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AUTHOR: 


NEVILLE-ROLFE, 
EUSTACE 


TITLE: 


POMPEII,  POPULAR  AND 
PRACTICAL 

PLACE: 

APLES 

DA  TE : 

1899 


COLUMBIA  UNIVERSITY  LIBRARIES 
PRESERVATION  DEPARTMENT 

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Master  Negative  # 
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Original  Material  as  Filmed  -  Existing  Bibliographic  Record 


Restrictions  on  Use: 


,874.7 
ril4161 


1.. 


Hoville-Eolf e ,  Eustace,  1845-1908. 

Pompeii,  popular  and  practical j  an  easy  book  on 
a  difficult  subject,  by  Eustace  Neville-Rolf e  ... 
3d  ed.,  rev.  and  cor.  ...  Naple^,  Prasa,  1899. 

vi,  311  p.     fold.  map.     20  cm. 


208327 


vj 


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DATE     FILMED: ^TjXlAl__     INITIALS <£l^ 

FILMED  BY:    RESEARCH  PUBLICATIONS.  INC  WOODBRIDGE.  CT~" 


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POMPEII 

POPULAR  AND  PRACTICAL 


AN  EASY  BOOK  ON  A  DIFFICULT  SUBJECT 


BY 


EUSTACE  NEVILLE  -  ROLFE  b.  a. 

H.  B.  M.  Consul,  Naples. 

Editor  of  «  A  Complete  Handbook  to  the  Naples  Museum  » 
Author  of  «  Naples  in  1S88  »  «  Naples  in  the  Nineties  »  etc. 


THIRD   EDITION 


re^'-isod  ^rmd  oorrootod 


WITH   A   MAP 


* 


NAPLES 
EMIL  PRASS 

59-60  Piazza  dei  Martiri,  Palazzo  Partaotia 

1899 


HxtO'W 


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^     ^  *^t-;1  ,   CO  '  ^        /j-<yi 
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/ 


1898 
revised  and  enlarged 


Bibllografia  di  Pompei,  Ercolano,  e  Stabia, 

compilata  da  Friedrich  Furchheim,  librajo 

A  descriptive  catalogue  of  upwards  of  500  ancient  and 
modern  works  in  English,  Italian,  French.  German,  and 

incTion;"''""^  """•  ''-''''''  ''  '  '=''-"°'°^'-' 
This  new  edition,  limited  to  400  copies,  all  numbered 
>n  the  press,  >s  printed  in  Ekevier  type  on  hand-made 
paper. 

350  copies  ,6mo,  price  6  Lire,  or  bound  in  half-parch- 
ment, uncut,  red  tops,  7  Lire  50c. 
50  copies  on  large  paper,   20  Lire. 


oUcojnprrsea  on,y  t^o  Hundred.  E.ery  publication  is  fully  described, 
2'^'b'  ten  a  laiour  of  lo.,  ,  and  ^hicH  is  worthily    enshrimd  in 


E^i\ 


Naples  —  Printed  by  Pierro  e  Veraldi 


POMPEII 


POPULAR    AND    PRACTICAL 


POMPEII 

POPULAR  AND  PRACTICAL 


{ 


I 


I 


■'■■v.; 


6  i^' 
I- 


CONTENTS 


^ 


» 


> 


Chapter     I.  History  of  the  city     .     .     .     . 
»  II.  Topography  of  P(»mpeii.     .     . 

\/lII.  Social  Life  at  Pompeii  .     .     . 

IV.  Pompeian  Art 

V.  The  Sea  Gate  and  Museum     . 
VI.  The    Public    Buildings :    First 

group 

VII.  The  Public  Buildings:  Second 

group  

VIII.  The  Walls    and  Gates.  —  The 

Amphitheatre 

IX.  The  Street  of  the  Tombs  .     . 

X.  Literature  and  Industries    .     . 

IX.  The  House  of  the  Vettii    .     . 

XIL  Itinerary 

Index  


» 


» 


» 


pag-e 

I 

» 

22 

» 

37 

» 

56 

» 

77 

98 


131 


» 

163 

» 

199 

» 

228 

» 

261 

» 

276 

» 

309 

) 


'A'' 


■■v"' 


INTRODUCTION 

I  have  endeavoured  in  this  little  book  to 
write  a  work  which  shall  be  popular  in  the 
sense  that  it  is  easily  understood,  and  prac- 
tical because  it  shall  sum  up  in  a  few  words 
the  most  important  points  of  the  various 
buldings  which  are  submitted  to  the  consi- 
deration of  the  reader.  I  have  avoided  the 
use  of  Latin,  Greek,  and  technical  words  as 
^  far  as  possible;  and  where  I  have  inserted 
inscriptions  in  the  text  I  have  been  careful 
to  append  translations  of  them.  I'am  afraid 
that  this  is  a  rash  proceeding,  the  reading  of 
many  of  the  Pompeian  inscriptions  being 
speculative,  but  I  think  that  it  is  better  to 
run  the  risk  of  being  occasionally  incorrect, 
than  to  print  an  inscription  without  a  trans- 
lation in  a  book  intended  for  general  reading. 
The  arrangement  of  the  book  speaks  for 
itself.  The  first  four  chapters  give  such  general 


.  -*  2fy: 


il     -Vaftlfc, 


IK  jAfiTL^ '  B&gai**  Aayfc^iii.  *  ■.'^.^  ■  .zfiw  i  !■  wfiat  »>>  Jafiisl^iJ*  i^tan/ 


VI 


IXTRODUCTION 


information  as  is  necessary  to  a  right  under- 
standing of  the  practical  part  of  the  subject. 
The  Itinerary  is  so  arragend  that  every  site 
of  interest  in  the  town  is  visited  in  the  course 
of  three  execursions,  without  going  twice  over 
any  part  of  the  ground.  Besides  this  I  have 

s 

added  directions  how  to  see  as  much  as  can 
be  seen  in  one  day,  and  how  to  employ  a 
limited  time  to  the  best  advantage. 

I  have  especially  to  thank  Mr  J.  H.  Taylor 
M.  A.  of  Cambridge  for  his  valuable  notes 
on  the  last  edition,  and  his  suggestions  for 
this  one.  With  one  exception  I  have  incorpor- 
ated them  all  into  the  text.  The  exception 
concerns  the  date  of  the  destruction ,  which 
Mr  Taylor  places  as  being  October  24th, 
instead  of  the  received  day  November  29th, 
The  argument  involves  technicalities  too 
learned  for  so  popular  a  work  as  this,  and  to 
alter  the  date  without  explaining  why,  would 
give  rise  to  much  misunderstanding. 

I  hope  that  the  copious  index  at  the  end 
of  the  book  may  be  useful. 

Naples  i8gg. 

E.  Neville-Rolfe 
H.  B.  M.  Consul 


I 


% 
1 


POMPEII 


POPULAR  AND  PRACTICAL 


CHAPTER  I 

HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 

Greek  Temple  650  b.  c. —  Oscan  Colonisation  —  Samnite 
Conquest  420  B.  c.  —  Treaty  with  Rome  341  b.  c.  — 
Secojid  Samnite  War  J04  B.  c.  —  Second  Punic  War 
216  B.  c.  —  Social  War  go  b.  c.  —  Siege  of  Sulla  88 
B.  c.  —  Pagus  Augustus  Felix  7  b.  q.^  Death  of  Au- 
gustus at  Nola  14  A.  D.  —  Earthquakes  6j  A.  D.  —  Final 
Destruction  79  A.  D. 

1  o  OBTAIN  a  right  conception  of  the  city  of 
Pompeii  as  it  now  exists,  it  is  obviously  desi- 
rable to  ascertain  as  much  as  possible  of  its  pri- 
mitive history. 

The  pages  of  early  writers  are  searched  in 
vain  for  any  mention  of  it,  and  we  are  compelled 
to  turn  to  the  ruins  themselves  for  information 
as  to  the  first  few  centuries  after  its  foundation. 

It  thus  becomes  advisable  to  fix  upon  the  oldest 
building  extant  in  the  town  ;  and  here  all  are 
agreed  in   assigning  the   post  of  honour  to  the 


ji.-  'aba'y 


POMPEII 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


remains  of  a  Greek  Temple,  the  ruins  of  which 
may  still  be  seen  in  the  Triangular  Forum  of 
the  city.  With  the  details  of  this  temple  we  shall 
have  more  to  do  later  on  in  our  work,  and  it 
is  only  necessary  to  state  here  that  its  simi- 
larity to  the  Paestum  temples  fixes  its  date  with 
comparative  certainty  at  about  65o  b.  c.  Hence 
the  history  of  Pompeii  may  be  said  to  range 
,  over  seven  hundred  and  twenty-nine  years,  dur- 
ing which  period  the  city  was  founded  by  the 
Oscans;  built  by  the  Samnites;  besieged,  sacked 
and  rebuilt  by  the  Romans,  who  held  it  till  it 
was  shattered  by  earthquakes  in  a.  d.  63  and 
then  rebuilt  it  again  only  in  time  to  see  it  fi- 
nally covered  up  in  a.  d.  79  by  a  convulsion  of 
nature  such  as  has  rarely  been  paralleled  in  the 
history  of  the  world. 

The  Greek  Temple  of  which  we  have  spoken 
is  by  common  consent  stated  to  have  been  de- 
dicated to  Hercules,  who  according  to  Solinus 
landed  at  this  spot  with  a  <  pompa  bourn  >  or 
procession  of  oxen ;  and  this  writer  leaves  us  to 
infer  that  his  m.  pompa  >  gave  the  name  of  Pom- 
peii to  the  town.  The  legend  to  which  Solinus 
refers  states  that  Hercules,  by  order  of  Eurys- 
theus  King  of  Argos  and  Mycenae,  was  sent  to 
Cadiz  to  slay  the  powerful  monster  Geryon,  and 
possess  himself  of  the  herds  of  cattle  for  which 


his  kingdom  was  famous.  The  hero,  having  ac- 
complished this  arduous  task,  sailed  for  Cam- 
pania  w^ith  his  spoil,  w^hich  he  landed  at  the  mouth 
of  the  river  Sarnus  hard  by  the  spot  where  Pom- 
peii  now  stands. 

If  this  legendary  account  of  the  matter  is 
from  the  historical  standpoint ,  not  very  satis- 
factory it  is  at  any  rate  the  only  story  we  have 
of  the  earliest  occupation  of  the  site,  and  until 
w^e  can  find  a  better  one ,  we  must  perforce 
accept  it.  How  the  legend  arose,  and  why  it  has 
obtained  nearly  universal  acceptance  it  is.  use- 
less to  enquire.  The  only  certain  thing  is  that 
somewhere  about  the  time  when  the  Greeks  co-, 
Ionised  South  Italy,  a  temple  probably  dedicated 
to  Hercules  was  built  at  the  mouth  of  the  river 
Sarnus. 

At  this  period  Paestum  and  Cumae  were  both 
flourishing  Greek  colonies.  Both  w^ere  near  Pom- 
peii; Cumae  being  some  twenty  miles  to  the 
westward,  and  Paestum  some  thirty  miles  to  the 
eastward.  Between  them  lay  the  dangerous  head- 
land of  the  Sorrentine  peninsula  which  could  be 
avoided  by  landing  at  Pompeii  and  going  across 
to  Salerno  whence  the  journey  to  Paestum  could 
be  safely  effected  by  sea.  There  would  thus  be 
nothing  extraordinary  in  a  colony  having  been 
formed  as  a  kind  of  half-way  house,  and  a  temple 


/ 


POMPEII 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


erected  as  a  landmark  to  show  navigators  the 
entrance  to  a  secure  harbour. 

There  remains  however  the  difficulty  that  no 
other  essentially  Greek  remains  of  this  period 
have  been  found  on  the  site;  no  tombs  as  at 
Cumae  and  Paestum  with  painted  vases  to  deter- 
mine their  period;  no  gold  ornaments  or  silver 
trinkets;  nothing  in  short  (except  the  remains 
of  the  temple)  to  enable  us  to  say  definitely  that 
a  Greek  colony  ever  existed  on  the  spot. 

We  must  now  pass  over  a  period  of  some  two 
hundred  years,  and  even  thus  we  shall  not  get 
to  the  domain  of  certain  history. 

By  this  time  (say  b.  c.  5oo)  the  Oscans  were 
in  possession  of  the  rich  plains  of  Campania.  They 
were  a  pastoral  people  of  uncertain  origin,  lead- 
ing probably  a  nomadic  life,  and  merely  driving 
their  flocks  and  herds  within  the  roughly-walled 
enclosure  of  the  city,  the  ground  plan  of  which 
was  divided  up  irregularly  according  to  the  re- 
quirements and  inheritance  of  every  family.  Little 
or  nothing  remains  of  them  except  their  language, 
which  continued  to  be  spoken  in  Campania  for 
many  centuries,  and  was  used  for  public  inscrip- 
tions even  in  Roman  times.  They  were  driven 
out  of  Campania  in  420  b.  c.  by  the  Samnites, 
a  powerful  tribe  of  hardy  mountaineers,  who 
swooped  down  upon  them  from  the  higher  Ap- 


i| 


\ 


,1 


penines;  and  having  possessed  themselves  of  their 
lands  and  their  wealth ,  held  the  rich  plains 
of  prosperous  Campania  under  their  sway  for 
upwards  of  three  hundred  years. 

Strabo  the  great  geographer  and  traveller  who 
died  A.  D.  2  5,  states  in  his  fifth  book  that  Pompeii 
was  first  occupied  by  the  Oscans,  then  by  the 
Tyrrheno-Pelasgi,  and  afterwards  by  the  Romans. 
He  further  states  that  in  his  day  Pompeii  served 
as  the  port  for  Nola,  Nuceria,  and  Acerrae,  and 
that  the  merchandise  was  conveyed  to  these  towns 
by  means  of  the  river  Sarnus.  And  this  account 
is  confirmed  by  Livy  who  states  that  in  b.  c.  309 
the  Roman  galleys  anchored  at  Pompeii  under 
P.  Cornelius,  and  devastated  Nuceria  until  they 
were  driven  back  by  the  aborigines. 

The  Samnites  (influenced  by  the  Greek  art 
around  them)  built  up  the  town  in  the  Doric 
style,  paved  their  streets,  erected  houses  of  mas- 
sive blocks  of  stone  without  mortar,  and  left  so 
many  traces  of  their  occupation  ,  that  Roman 
development  and  the  frequent  rebuilding  of  sub- 
sequent ages  has  never  been  able  to  obliterate 
them.  About  360  b.  c.  the  Samnites  were  at  the 
height  of  their  power.  They  had  overrun  southern 
Italy,  and  it  was  becoming  patent  that  the  su- 
premacy of  the  continent  must  be  decided  bet- 
ween the  Romans  and  their  turbulent  neighbours. 


/I 


POMPEII 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


A  dispute  having  arisen  between  the  Samnites 
and  the  Sidicini  (a  tribe  who  had  maintained 
their  independence)  these  last  implored  the  as- 
sistance of  the  Campanians,  who  were  defeated 
in  a  pitched  battle  at  the  very  walls  of  Capua. 
In  their  straits  they  applied  to  Rome  for  assi- 
stance, and  a  decisive  battle  was  fought  at  the 
foot  of  Mount  Gaurus,  in  which  the  Samnites 
were  routed  and  forced  to  conclude  a  treaty  with 
Rome  in  341   b.  c. 

In  the  following  year  we  find  the  Romans  and 
the  Samnites  fighting  side  by  side  on  the  slopes 
of  Vesuvius  and  gaining  a  signal  victory  over 
the  Latins. 

The  Romans  thus  got  a  footing  in  Campania, 
and  it  was  not  until  twelve  years  afterwards  that 
the  Samnites  became  jealous  of  the  increasing 
power  of  their  rivals,  and  strengthened  themsel- 
ves by  an  alliance  with  the  Greek  colonists  of 
Neapolis,  who  were  an  offshoot  from  the  more 
ancient  colony  of  Cumae.  The  Romans  were  too 
powerful  to  be  resisted,  and  Neapolis  only  escaped 
destruction  by  submission. 

Meanwhile  the  Romans  had  declared  war  a- 
gainst  the  Samnites,  and  this  second  Samnite 
war  lasted  with  varying  success  for  twenty-three 
years,  and  terminated  in   304  b.  c. 

In  216  B.  c.  Hannibal  having  overrun    Italy, 


made  himself  master  of  Campania  j  and  Pompeii 
in  common  with  many  other  towns  of  the  pro- 
vince opened  her  gates  to  him. 

But  it  was  not  till  long  after  this  that  Pom- 
peii assumed  direct  historical  importance,  though, 
as  w^e  have  seen,  one  of  the  decisive  battles  of  the 
world  was  fought  upon  the  slopes  of  Vesuvius, 
and  certainly  w^ithin  a  few  miles   of  her  gates. 

Throughout  the  Social  War  of  90  b.  c.  the  / 
neighbourhood  of  Pompeii  was  a  battle-field.  Ju- 
lius Caesar  occupied  Acerrae,  in  which  he  was 
besieged  by  the  Samnites  under  their  Consul 
Papius.  Pompeii  must  have  been  the  base  of  the 
Samnite  operations,  as  the  town  was  connected 
with  Acerrae  by  the  river  Sarnus.  On  this  ac- 
count no  doubt  Pompeii  was  subsequently  be- 
sieged by  Sulla,  and  after  a  desperate  resistance 
made  terms  with  the  Romans.  It  was  probably 
at  this  period  that  a  portion  of  the  city  walls 
were  destroyed,  and  Pompeii  does  not  appear 
in  the  Civil  War  of  88  b.  c.  though  Sulla  was 
still  besieging  Nola,  the  siege  of  which  he  sub- 
sequently raised  to  march  upon  Rome. 

Sulla  became  a  patron  of  Pompeii,  and  accord-' 
ing  to  Cicero  conferred  great  benefits  upon  the 
town.  Cicero  was  in  a  position  to  judge,  because 
he  had  a  villa  at  Pompeii  to  which   he   makes 
frequent  reference  \  and  though  perhaps  an  ad- 


\A 


^jfcWlt.  >.■»' jQM'^fci'-'K.nijifcJM  jaUrffcAtt'diilniiMlitftirO-awafcai 


8 


POMPEII 


vocate  in  pleading  the  cause  of  his  client  may 
be  led  into  exaggerated  statements,  it  must  be 
remembered  that  Sulla  was  so  important  a  man 
that  his  public  actions  must  have  been  univer- 
sally known  and  canvassed.  Suetonius  mentions 
the  accidental  death  at  Pompeii  of  Drusus  the 
son  of  Claudius,  who  was  throwing  a  pear  up, 
and  endeavouring  to  catch  it  in  his  mouth  when 
it  stuck  in  his  throat  and  choked  him. 

From  this  period  Pompeii  takes  her  regular 
place  upon  the  page  of  history,  and  the  refer- 
ences to  the  city  are  numerous  and  trustworthy. 

During  the  reign  of  Augustus,  Pompeii  ob- 
tained municipal  privileges,  *)  and  there  can 
be  little  doubt  that  this  celebrated  Emperor,  who 
died  at  Nola  14  a.  d.  w^as  personally  acquainted 
with  the  city.  It  was  during  his  reign  and  about 
7  B.  c.  that  the  suburb  «  Pagus  Augustus  Felix  > 
was  built  by  a  Roman  colony,  under  the  patro- 
nage of  Marcus  Arrius  Diomedes,  whose  tombs 
are  extant  opposite  to  the  large  villa  called  after 
him  on  slender  authority.  We  have  thus  brought 


*)  Augustus  extended  the  principles  of  municipal  self- 
government  to  many  of  the  military  colonies  of  Julius  Cae- 
sar, which  gave  the  inhabitants  the  full  rights  of  Roman 
citizenship,  including  the  privilege  of  voting  at  Rome  ,  a 
right  which  in  those  days  could  be  rarely  exercised  by  coun- 
try people,  on  account  of  their  distance  from  the   Capital. 


I! 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


9 


:\ 


.1  / 


down  the  history  of  the  town  to  the  becrinnino- 
of  the  Christian  era,  and  nothing  of  great  im- 
portance seems  to  have  occurred  there  in  the 
first  half  century  after  Christ.  Tacitus  gives  full 
details  of  the  Nucerine  riot  in  the  Pompeian  am- 
phitheatre, and  calls  the  town  <(  a  celebrated  city 
of  Campania  >.  Towards  the  close  of  Nero^s  reic^n  \/ 
the  whole  region  around  Vesuvius  was  devastated 
by  violent  earthquakes,  which  proved  to  be  the 
precursors  of  the  volcanic  eruption  which  ulti- 
mately overwhelmed  the  city.  To  these  earth- 
quakes both  Tacitus  and  Seneca  make  reference, 
and  the  latter  calls  them  to  witness  to  refute 
the  theory  of  Calisthenes  that  places  near  the 
sea  were  free  from   such  visitations. 

Seneca  goes  into  minute  detail  about  the  mat- 
ter, which  occurred  just  two  years  before  his 
murder  by  Nero.  The  actual  date  of  the  prin- 
cipal earthquake  was  the  5th  of  February  63  a.  d., 
and  though  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  were  the 
chief  sufferers  it  is  clear  that  the  whole  recrion 
was  affected  to  a  certain  extent.  The  ruins  of 
the  city  do  not  give  us  an  accurate  estimate 
of  the  damage  done,  because  there  can  be  4K) 
doubt  that  the  ultimate  destruction  was  accom- 
panied by  serious  earthquakes,  and  the  move- 
ment of  mosaic  pavements  and  other  stable 
substances    may    no    doubt    be     attributable   as 


/ 


/  J. 


10 


POMPEII 


I 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


11 


much  to  one  set  of  seismic  phenomena  as  to  the 
other. 

Seneca  says  that  many  lives  were  lost,  that 
a  great  part  of  Herculaneum  though  not  thrown 
down,  was  rendered  uninhabitable  ;  and  that  Na- 
ples had  many  private  houses  shattered,  though 
none  of  the  public  buildings  were  injured. 

In  short  the  seismic  vertical  appears  to  have 
been  between  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum;  and 
the  wave  of  the  shock  seems  to  have  extended 
to  Naples  on  the  West,  and  with  greater  vio- 
lence to  Nuceria  on  the  East. 

To  this  historic  account  Seneca  adds  what  is 
probably  legendary ;  we  say  legendary,  because 
all  who  are  acquainted  with  the  result  of  earth- 
quakes know  that  even  in  these  days  similar 
stories  always  follow  in  the  wake  of  these  -dis- 
asters. He  says  that  a  flock  of  six  hundred  sheep 
was  killed  on  the  spot,  and  that  very  many  of 
the  inhabitants  went  out  of  their  mind. 

It  seems  clear  that  it  long  remained  matter 
for  doubt  whether  the  city  should  be  rebuilt  or 
not,  but  eventually  this  course  was  decided  upon, 
and  a  thorough  rebuilding  took  place,  so  that 
we  have  the  remains  of  a  city  which  we  may 
take  to  be  of  the  time  of  the  end  of  Nero's 
reign,  say  a.  d.  65  to  68.  Some  writers  put  the 
rebuilding  as  late  as  the  time  of  Vespasian  a. 


\ 


1 


D.  69  to  79,  but  we  doubt  the  panic  lasting  more 
than  a  couple  of  years,  and  think  it  probable 
that  within  two  years  from  the  date  of  the  ca- 
tastrophe, that  is  in  the  spring  of  a.  d.  65,  the 
rebuilding  would  probably  have  commenced.  Ac- 
cepting this  date  as  a  reasonable  conjecture,  we 
should  see  before  us  a  city  with  a  developement 
of  fourteen  consecutive  years,  commencing  in 
A.  D.  65  and  brought  to  a  sudden  and  fatal  stand- 
still on  the  23rd  day  of  November  a.  p,  79.  Here 
again  we  shall  be  found  at  issue  with  many  of 
the  older  writers,  and  more  particularly  with 
that  great  father  of  Pompeii,  Professor  Fiorelli, 
who  gives  the  date  as  the  24th  of  August. 

Pliny  gave  the  day  and  the  month ,  but  un- 
fortunately there  is  a  discrepancy  in  the  manu- 
scripts which  have  survived  to  us,  some  of 
them  giving  the  one  date,  and  some  the  other. 
We  are  therefore  left  to  decide  for  ourselves, 
and  various  specimens  found  in  Pompeii  leave 
us  no  option  but  to  declare  in  favour  of  the  later 
date. 

Here  the  articles  of  food  discovered  in  the 
excavations  come  mainly  to  our  assistance.  Dried 
grapes  have  been  found,  and  it  is  certain  that 
these  would  not  be  dried  so  early  as  August, 
when  the  vines  have  hardly  come  into  bearing, 
whereas   the   regular   season  for  drying  grapes 


h  W*£itolttf*  ^"'J'- W  ^ --"*  <^  1  fcaaJ  "Laf 


i 


/ 


12 


POMPEII 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


is  in  the  months  of  October  and  November, 
when  the  vintage  is  over. 

Again,  the  earliest  walnuts-are  barely  gathered 
in  the  month  of  August,  and  many  walnuts  have 
been  found  in  the  excavations. 

The  same  remark  applies  to  chestnuts  and 
pinenuts  which  are  autumnal  fruits;  but  perhaps 
the  most  convincing  proof  is  the  fact  that  in  very 
many  of  the  gardens  the  amphorce  or  wine  jars 
have  been  found  upside  down,  having  been  evi- 
dently washed  out  to  receive  the  new  wine.  Those 
in  the  garden  of  the  House  of  the  Faun  had 
been  already  filled,  and  Professor  Cali  has  ascer- 
tained by  analysis  that  the  wine  which  was  put 
into  them  was  new  and  of  that  season's  growth. 

The  day  of  the  destruction  being  thus  fixed 
with  tolerable  certainty,  we  will  say  a  few  words 
about  the  hour. 

Bulwer  Lytton  places  the  population  of  Pom- 
peii in  the  Amphitheatre  at  the  time  of  the  ca- 
lamity, and  adds  no  little  to  the  dramatic  inte- 
rest of  «  The  Last  days  of  Pompeii  y>  by  this 
incident.  The  historical  accuracy  of  the  state- 
ment may  be  open  to  doubt,  though  it  would 
not  alter  the  fact  that  the  eruption  took  place 
in  the  afternoon. 

Dion  Cassius  states  that  <  Herculaneum  and 
Pompeii  were  destroyed  when  the  people  of  the 


13 


/I 


li 


:p;-.. 


/■W"  '"  <  - 


i 


I 


latter  town  were  sitting  in  the  theatre  >.  Both 
towns  had  theatres  ,  but  we  do  not  know  that 
Herculaneum  had  an  Amphiteatre  at  all:  and  even 
if  it  had,  the  shows  in  the  Amphitheatre  were  rare, 
and  it  is  scarcely  likely  that  two  towns  so  near  to 
one  another  would  have  shows  on  the  same  day. 
On  the  other  hand  plays  in  the  theatres  were 
frequent ,  and  the  words  may  easily  be  taken  to 
mean  «  at  theatre  time  >,  namely  in  the  afternoon, 
which  quite  corresponds  to  Pliny*s  account. 

It  appears  that  on  that  terrible  afternoon,  the  v^ 
mountain  suddenly  sent  up  a  lofty  column  of 
black  smoke  which  after  rising  to  an  enormous 
height,  spread  itself  out  into  a  cloud  having  the 
shape  of  a  giant  pine  tree.  This  would  show  that 
at  the  first  period  of  the  eruption  there  was  little 
or  no  wind  blowing,  and  it  is  probable  that  thus 
a  means  of  escape  was  provided  for  such  of  the 
inhabitants  as  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  be- 
take themselves  to  the  mountains  which  over- 
hang Castellammare. 

Meanwhile  the  cloud  seems  to  have  increased 
in  size  and  density,  while  the  mountain  cast  up 
ashes,  pumice,  and  red-hot  stones.  Some  few  of 
the  latter  may  have  reached  as  far  as  Pompeii, 
but  the  traces  of  fire  in  the  city  are  so  few, 
that  it  is  reasonable  to  assume  that  hardly  any 
red-hot   lava   reached  the   city  at   all,   and  that 


14 


POMPEII 


where  traces  of  fire  exist,  they  were  caused  by 
the  falling  in  of  the  roofs  upon  domestic  fires 
which  may  have  caused  slight  combustion  in  a 
few  instances. 

The  first  stratum  of  volcanic  matter  seems  to 
have  covered  the  town  with  an  impalpable  pow- 
der which  obscured  the  weak  daylight  of  a  No- 
vember afternoon,  and  choked  all  such  of  the 
inhabitants  as  were  not  able  to  effect  their  escape. 
\  We  may  assume  that  the  night  of  the  23rd  of 
November  saw  the  flight  of  all  those  who  were 
ever  to  get  away  from  the  doomed  city.  Some 
of  these  escaped  by  land,  others  no  doubt 
by  sea.  The  road  to  Naples  must  certainly 
have  been  impracticable,  and  the  exodus  must 
have  taken  place  by  the  Gates  which  lead  out 
towards  Stabiae  and  the  sea  shore.  Neither  Gate 
is  well  adapted  for  the  issue  of  a  panic-stricken 
crowd,  and  if  chariots  were  used  by  some  of  the 
refugees,  there  must  have  been  considerable  loss 
of  life  in  the  throng,  when  the  steep  descent 
to  the  Stabian  Gate  was  reached  by  it. 

It  is  not  to  be  supposed  that  Pliny  the  Elder 
who  was  in  command  of  the  Roman  fleet  at 
Misenum,  could  have  arrived  at  Stabiae  before 
the  morning  of  the  24th  of  November.  In  the 
meantime  the  character  of  the  eruption  had 
somewha:t  changed.  We  read  that  he  could  not 


CITY 


15 


get  out  of  the  bay  of  Stabi^  with  his  fleet,  on 
iccount  of  the  violent  head  wind  which  was  blow- 
ng  at  the  time.  The  direction  of  the  wind 
would  be  N.  W.  and  this  would  blow  directly 
from  the  mountain  towards  Pompeii,  and  would 
bear  with  it  the  masses  of  pumice  stone  and 
other  volcanic  deSrzs  with  which  we  find  the 
ruined  buildings  filled  up. 

The  rain  meanwhile  fell  in  torrents,  and  left 
s  traces  in  some  of  the  layers  of  ash,  which 
'are  granulated  into  pellets  about  the  size  of  peas, 
hese  layers  alternate  with  the  layers  of  pumice 
tone,  thus  showing  that  the  character  of  the 
-ruption  was  constantly  changing.  Traces  of 
lightning  are  also  perceptible  in  a  variety  of  in- 
stances, of  which  perhaps  the  most  interesting 
is  a  small  glass  vase  completely  twisted  round 
a  hairpin  which  stood  in  it ;  this  is  now  preset- 
ved  in  the  Naples  Museum  (Small  Bronzes,  Ta- 
ble-case Lxm  bis). 

Phenomena  of  a  different  character  were  tak- 
ing place  on  the  Herculaneum  side  of  the  vol- 
cano. The  wind  carried  all  the  loose  matter  away 
towards  the  S.  E.  but  a  torrent  of  liquid  mud 
was  pouring  down  the  slope  towards  Hercula- 
neum, filling  up  everything  that  came  in  its  way, 
land  completely  cutting  off  all  communication 
with  Naples.   In  succeeding  centuries  this  mud 


16 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


17 


has  become  completely  hard,  and  though  it  had 
now  to  be  cut  away  with  a  chisel,  it  was  ori 
ginally  a  soft  warm  paste  which  preserved,  a;^ 
by  a  miracle,  the  art  treasures  imbedded  in  it, 
doing  little  or  no  damage  to  bronze  or  marble, 
and  scarcely  injuring  so  delicate  a  vegetable  sub- 
stance as  papyrus. 

The  best  accounts  we  have  of  the  calamity 
^re  those  two  well-known  letters  written  by  the 
younger  Pliny  from  Misenum,  and  describind 
most  likely  the  events  of  November  the  231 
and  the  days  immediately  following  it.  It  is  scar- 
cely necessary  to  reprint  these  letters,  it  w^'l 
be  sufficient  to  give  a  resume  of  them.  Th 
were  written  at  the  request  of  Tacitus,  and  tii( 
first  of  them  relates  the  death  of  the  Elder  Pliny 
the  great  historian  and  naturalist,  who  at  th( 
time  of  the  calamity  fell  a  victim  to  his  enthu-j 
siasm  for  scientific  investipfation.  As  soon  as  th( 
phenomena  were  observed  he  got  a  swift  galley! 
under  way,  but  before  he  was  able  to  start  h< 
received  a  request  from  some  of  his  marines  whcl 
lived  at  Retina  (now  Resina)  to  send  ships  tcJ 
take  them  off.  He  accordingly  manned  his  large] 
ships,  and  seems  to  have  endeavoured  to  lan( 
at  Retina,  but  finding  this  impossible  he  bore  ufj 
for  Stabiae,  where  he  landed,  and  eventually  lo 
his  life  in  an  endeavour  to  observe  the  pheno- 


lena  of  the  eruption.  His  body  was  recovered  on 
le  third  day,  completely  uninjured.  <  He  looked,> 
ays  his  nephew  ,    «  as  if  he  were  asleep  >. 
In   his  second  letter  the  younger  Pliny  descri- 
bes his  flight  with    his   mother  from    Misenum, 
which  seems  to  have  occurred  on  the   followino- 
morning.   They  would  probably  take  the  road  to 
Baiae  and  Cumae,  because  he  speaks  of  the  water 
retiring  from  the    shore,    and    leaving    the    fish 
high  and  dry  upon  the   strand.  Had  he  taken  a 
road  which  may    have  existed    along  the  other 
coast    to    Cumae,    he   would    probably    not   have 
observed  the  retrocession  of  the  sea,  as  the  Cu- 
maean   beach   is    on  the  open   ocean,   while  the 
Baian  beach  forms  part  of  the  Bay  of  Naples. 
Be  this  as  it  may,  the  narrative  of  their  flicrht 
is  a  tale  of  adventure,   and  the  mention  of  the 
violent  earthquakes  which  they  encountered  shows 
the  subterraneous  connection  between  Vesuvius 
and  the  peninsula  of  Misenum.  The  earthquakes 
I  seem  to  have  been  incessant,  and  the  atmosphe- 
|ric  conditions  absolutely  suffocating. 

Pliny's  mother  was  a  very   stout  old  lady,  to 

iwhom  rapid  locomotion  seems  to  have  been  dif- 

pcult,  and  they  were  compelled  to  draw  aside  out 

lof  the    road    that  they  might  not  be  trampled 

lown  by  the  crowd    of  fugitives.   Even  at  this 

distance  from    the    scene    of    action  ,    (and    we 


I 


18 


POiMPEII 


may  reasonably  conjecture  that  they  were  twent  v] 
miles  from  the  volcano)  they  had  to   rise  froi 
time  to  time  to  shake  off  the  volcanic  dust  fron 
their  garments. 

The  next  day  they  seem  to  have  seen  the  sun 
jaundiced  by  the  dust  in  the  air,  and  to  have 
observed  the  whole  face  of  the  country  covered 
as  if  by  a  fall  of  snow. 

If  all  this  was  the  case  at  Misenum,  it  must 
have  been  ten  times  worse  in  the  neicrhbourhood 

o 

of  the  mountain.  Here  the  earthquakes  were 
continuous,  and  the  rain  of  falling  matter  seems 
to  have  suffered  no  intermission  at  all.  The  whole 
region  was  covered  with  scoriae  to  the  depth  of 
some  twenty  feet ;  the  river  Sarnus  appears  to 
have  been  choked  up,  and  all  the  trees  destroyed. 

Let  us  endeavour  to  imagine  the  sight  froi 
the  top  of  Monte  Sant'  Angelo  on  the  third  of 
December  a.   d.   79.  The  darkness  was  clearing, 
off,  but  the  site  of  the  city  was   no  longer  v 
sible.  The  pent-up  waters  of  the  river  were  forc-l 
ing  themselves  a  new  channel  at  the  foot  of  th' 
Stabian  hills,  and  nothing  remained  to  indicate 
the  position   of  Pompeii  but   the   upper  part  0I 
the  wall  of  the  Greater  Theatre,  and   the  ellip 
tical  outline  which  indicated  the  spot  where  th( 
Amphitheatre  of  the  town  lay  buried.  Withou 
drawing  unnecessarily  on  the  imagination  of  oui 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


19 


tjeaders  we  may  add  to  this  picture  the  home- 
less inhabitants  of  three  or  four  populous  towns, 
(tamped  out  on  the  mountain  sides  in  November 
iwithout  food  or  shelter,  and  in  utter  despair  as 
^to  what  should  next  be  done. 

In  our  days,  the  news  of  such  a  calamity  would 
be  known  all  over  the  world  in  twenty-four  hours. 
In  those  days  the  news  would  not  have  reached 
even  Rome  in  twice  that  time;  but  to  the  honour 
of  Titus,  who  was  the  reigning  emperor,  it  must 
be  said  that  he  acted  with  the  most  praise- 
worthy promptitude. 

Suetonius  tells  us  that  he  appointed  overseers 
to  put  matters  straight,  that  he  ordered  houses 
to  be  rebuilt  where  such  a  course  was  desira- 
le,  and  that  he  decreed  that  the  goods  of  those 
f'ho  had  died  without  representatives  should  be 
'divided  among  such  as  had  survived  and  had 
\been  deprived  of  all   means  of  livelihood. 

What  followed  is  uncertain ;  but  the  ruins  prove 
hat  in  many  instances  the  citizens  contrived  to 
^et  the  bearings  of  their  houses,  and  having 
clug  down  to  them,  secured  a  great  portion  of 
heir  valuables. 

It  is  absolutely: -jcertain  that  J;he  idea— of  re- 
building the  city  was  never  carried  out,  and  as 
it  was  left  in  the  year  a.  d.  29  so  it  remained 
ior  very  many  centuries.  But  although  the  ori- 


eo 


POMPEII 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CITY 


21 


ginal  city  was  never  rebuilt,    one  bearing    t 
same  name  arose  afterwards  on  nearly  the  sa 
site,  and  this  is  mentioned  by  a  monk  named  Mar 
tino  as  having  existed   in  a.  d.    838.   This  cit) 
is  also  named  in  Pentinger's  map,*   (a  copy  oi' 
which  is  in  the  Coin  gallery  of  the  Naples  Mu4 
seum)   but  there  is  no  other  indication  of  it.  It 
was  probably  an  unimportant  hamlet,  and  very 
likely  shared  the  fate  of  its  namesake  in  one  of 
the  many  subsequent  eruptions  of  the  mountain.) 
The  -^e^scovery    of    Pompeii     dates     from! 
1595,  when  by  order  of  the   Count  of  Sarno  ad 
acqueduct  was  made  to  convey  the  waters  of  the 
upper  Sarno  to  the  town  of  Torre  dell'Annun- 
ziata.    This    conduit    enters    the    town    on    thej 
eastern  side  near  the  Amphitheatre,  and  passing 
across  the  street  of  Stabiae  to  the  temple  of  Isi^ 
turns  to  the  right  beneath  the  Forum,  and  reA 
appears  again  just  below  the  garden  of  the  Hous^ 
of  Diomede  at   the    extreme   end   of   the  stree 
of  the  Tombs. 

In  the  course  of  the  necessary  works  con]- 
nected  with  this  acqueduct  two  inscriptions  wer4 
found,  both  referring  to  Pompeii,  but  both  un 
frotunately  lost. 


'''  The  date  of  the  original  map  may  safely  be  pi 
in  the   i3.th   century  a.   d. 


acec 


^ 

^ 


It  was  not  till  1 748  that  real  excavations  vv^ere 
c.bmmenced,  but  these  were  carried  out  without 
pToper  plan  and  in  the  most  irregular  manner, 
l^Jie  object  of  the  excavators  being  merely  to 
fpnd  specimens  of  value,  and  no  care  was  taken 

ven  of  these.  Many  were  dispersed,   many  sold, 

nd    many   stolen.    Interesting   waterpipes   were 

elted  for  old  lead;  the  marble  was  pillaged, 
the  mosaics  broken  up ;  and  it  was  not  in  fact 
till  i860,  when  the  Neapolitan  provinces  became 
part  of  United  Italy,  that  a  regular  plan  was 
ijnitiated  by  Professor  Fiorelli  by  which  every- 
tjhing  that  is  found  is  carefully    recorded  ,   and 

11  that  is  valuable  is  put  in   safe  keeping. 
The  excavations  have  since  been    carried  on 
i/n   the  most  methodical  manner;  tramways  have 
^een    laid    to  carry    off  the  rubbish  ,    and  it  is 

stimated  that  in  about  fifty  years  the  whole  of 
t^he  city  will  be  laid  open,  though  this  of  course 

epends  upon  the  amount  of  subsidy  granted  by 
tuie  Government.  It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that 

win^  to  financial  difficulties  the  c/rant  has  been 


o 


cipnsiderably   reduced  in   recent  years. 


j   ».ia»:aMMtr^t^«^SM^a^^t^'^J.-^.^ 


CHAPTER   II 

TOPOGRAPHY  OF  POMPEII 

Distajice  from  Naples,  Castellammare,  Vesuvius  and  the 
Sea -^Ancient  Coast  line -^  Course  of  the  Sarnus —ItsS 
Quays  —  Experimental  Excavations  —  Vesuvius  and 
Monte  So7nma  —  The  steppiiig  stones  in  the  streets  -^ 
Present  aspect  of  houses  --Their  original  height— ^  Siz^ 
of  the  city  —  Population  —  Names  of  the  streets  —  Fio\ 
relli  's  division  —  Advertisements  —  Tavern  signs  — \ 
Water  supply  —  Heating  of  houses. 


r  OMPEii  is  seventeen  miles  from  Naples,  fouf 
from  Castellammare,  five  in  a  direct  line  froni 
the  crater  of  Vesuvius,  and  about  a  mile  and  li 
half  from  the  sea. 

That  it  was  much  nearer  to  the  sea  in  anr 
cient  times  than  it  is  now,  is  very  unlikely,  ajs 
there  would  seem  to  be  no  reason  why  the  coast 
at  Pompeii  should  change  and  that  of  Herculaj 
neum  so  few  miles  off  remain  in  its  old  posi-f 
tion.  Experimental  borings  made  to  test  the  ac-f 


4 

i 


y 


s 


I 


V 


f" 


topo(;haphy 


23 


tual  condition  of  the  subsoil  between  the  city 
and  the  sea,  produced  neither  shells  nor  sea-sand 
to  within  five  hundred  yards  of  the  present  coast- 
line, i.nd  in  one  instance  soil  and  fresh  w^ater 
were  alone  found  until  the  point  where  the  Sa- 
lerno railway  line  branches  off  to  Castellammare. 
Here  sea-shells  were  found  at  no  inconsiderable 
depth,  but  this  point  is  so  near  the  beach  that 
this  h  hardly  matter  for  wonder. 

Besides,  the  volcanic  matter  which  covered 
the  region  on  the  Pompeii  side  of  the  mountain 
was  of  the  lightest  possible  description.  Vast 
quantities  of  it  fell  upon  the  sea  no  doubt,  but 
it  all  floated  away,  just  as  similar  volcanic  mat- 
ter did  in  the  case  of  the  Java  eruption  of  i885, 
when  the  ocean  was  covered  for  miles  with  sco- 
riae and  ashes. 

The  descriptions  of  the  coast  as  it  existed  in 
Roman  times  given  us  by  Livy,  Seneca,  and 
Pliny,  all  coincide  with  the  shore  as  it  now  is, 
and  w^e  may  feel  confident  that  nothing  has 
changed  materially  except  the  course  of  the  Sar- 
nus  and  its  size.  Pompeii  owed  its  fame  as  a 
seaport  merely  to  the  fact  that  it  was  situated 
on  the  estuary  of  that  stream,  which  was  navi- 
gable for  the  light  vessels  used  in  ancient  times. 

That  the  sea  ever  came  up  to  the  city  walls 
in  historic  times,   is  a  theory  long   since  aban- 


I: 


#       a,  I 


24 


POMPEir 


\ 


doned,  though  a  casual  inspection  of  the  gene- 
ral configuration  of  the  ground,  and  of  the  marsh 
which  lies  between  the  city  and  Castellammare, 
may  perhaps  have  led  the  early  excavators  to 
form  the  opinion  that  the  hill  upon  which  Pom- 
peii stands  may  once  have  formed  part  of  the 
coast  line. 

All  the  western   side  of  the  city,  and  a  great 
part  of  the  southern    side,    stand    upon    a    bluff 
overlooking  the  marshy  plain  below^  The  whole 
of  this  plain   was  covered  by  the  eruption,   and 
consequently  there  has  been  an  alteration  of  the 
apparent  level,   and  this  alteration   may  very  li- 
kely have  caused  the  loss  of  a  large   amount  of 
the  water   of  the  Sarnus,    and  converted   what 
was  once  a  navigable  river  into  an  insignificant 
stream.   The  ancient  course  of  the    Sarnus  was 
about  three  hundred   yards  beyond  the  present 
railway  line.    The  busy   quays  were    lined   with 
buildings,  of  which  a  whole  row   was  discovered 
and   filled  up  again  some  years  since  ;  but  this 
riverside   suburb   extended    almost   to  the  walls 
of  the  town;  for  when  the  foundations  for  a  new 
house  were  being  sunk  between  the  railway  and 
the  high  road  in    1887  about  a  quarter  of  mile 
to  the  eastward  of  the  Pompeii  Station,   we  had 
the  good  fortune  to  see  the  remains   of  a   Ro- 
man building,    and,   as  it  has    since  been    filled 


4 

A 


4'} 


V 


f 


TOPOGRAPHY 


25 


up,   a  few    words    upon   it  will    doubtless    be  of 
interest. 

It  was  a  large  corn  mill,  lying  some  tw^elve 
feet  below  the  present  surface.  The  stones  for 
grinding  the  corn  were  more  than  double  the 
size  of  those  used  in  the  usual  Pompeian  bake- 
ries, and  must  have  required  one  or  perhaps  two 
mules  to  turn  them. 

It  was  interestintr  to  note  the  scores  written 
on  the  walls  of  the  warehouses.  These  were 
marked  by  rough  strokes  about  an  inch  long 
written  in  charcoal,  every  tenth  stroke  being 
drawn  of  double  length  for  facility  of  reckon- 
ing. We  have  little  doubt  that  these  scores  re- 
ferred to  the  number  of  sacks  of  corn  delivered 
to  the  miller,  as  each  row  was  added  up  in  Ro- 
man numerals  at  the  end  of  the  line.  It  is  very 
much  to  be  regretted  that  these  remains  (be- 
ing on  private  property)  w^ere  doomed  to  be 
destroyed,  to  make  room  for  the  foundations  of 
a  modern  building  which  now  stands  over  them. 

Many  experimental  excavations  have  been 
made  in  the  vicinity  of  Pompeii,  and  amongst 
other  things  the  trunks  of  cypress  trees  which 
lined  the  banks  of  the  river  have  been  disco- 
vered, and  the  remains  of  a  bridge  which  spanned 
the  Sarnus,  thus  indicating  exactly  the  ancient 
position  of  the  river. 


\i 


26 


POMPEII 


TOPOGRAPHY 


All  these  experimental  excavations  have  been 
filled  in  again,  but  it  seems  probable  fhat  the 
bridge  over  the  Sarnus  was  above  the  port  of 
Pompeii,  and  that  the  traffic  beyond  it  was  by 
barges  drawn  by  mules,  as  described  by  Horace 
in  his  celebrated  account  of  his  journey  to  Brun- 
dusium. 

In  the  winter  of  1886-7,  some  tombs  were 
discovered  in  private  groiind,  lining  a  road  which 
led  out  into  the  country  not  far  from  the  Am- 
phitheatre. 

These  were  partially  explored  at  the  expense 
of  the  Government  ,  and  are  interesting  as 
being    the    tombs    of    poor    people ,    thus   con- 

x^ firming    our     opinion     that     the     more     squalid 

portion  of  the  city  will  be  found  near  the 
amphitheatre. 

V  The  city  of  Pompeii  is  in  the  form  of  an  ir- 
regular hexagonal  oval  with  its  broad  part  to- 
wards the  coast,  and  is  surrounded  by  a  high 
wall  in  which  are  eight  Gates.  The  principal 
streets  lead  out  to  the  Gates,  and  are  practi- 
cally straight,  though  some  of  the  smaller  streets 
are  narrow  and  tortuous.  The  highest  part  of 
the  city  is  behind  the  northwestern  corner  of 
the  Forum  and  from  this  point  the  ground  slo- 
pes   downwards    in    every   direction,    sometimes 


ft 
4 


4 

4 

4> 


4) 


t 


27 


!► 
¥ 


i    ^ 


V 


IJ 


I 


(as  in  the  case  of  the  Sea  Gate  and  the  Gate 
of  Stabiae)  very  steeply  indeed. 

Although  the  eruption  which  buried  Pompeii 
is  the  first  on  record,  it  is  certain  that  Monte 
Somma  had  been  active  enough  in  pre-historic 
times,  for  Pompeii  is  built  on  a  bed  of  lava  many 
centuries  old,  and  a  good  deal  of  lava  was  used 
in  paving  the  streets  and  in  the  construction  of 
some  of  the  buildings. 

Vesuvius  which  now  forms  so  important  a 
feature  in  the  landscape,  had  no  existence  in 
the  Roman  times.  We  learn  as  well  from  the 
frescoes  as  from  the  ancient  writers,  that  the 
country  all  the  way  from  Pompeii  to  the  rocky 
declivities  of  Monte  Somma  was  a  luxuriant  and 
fertile  plain.  There  is  indeed  still  a  belt  of  cul- 
tivation between  the  city  and  the  mountain,  but 
it  extends  only  to  the  little  village  of  Bosco 
tre  Case,  a  poor  hamlet  about  three  miles  away 
where  the  cultivable  soil  ceases,  and  the  dreary 
wilderness  of  lava  beds  begins. 

The  city  commands  beautiful  views  in  every  1/ 
direction.  Sea  and  sky,  mountain  and  valley,  the 
distant  town  of  Naples  and  the  more  distant  is- 
lands of  the  Bay,  all  combine  to  form  a  pano- 
rama of  the  most  exquisite  description;  no  site 
in  Europe    could  be  more   picturesque,    none  is 


more  mterestm^:. 

o 


" iiiiiiimii 


28 


POMPEII 


TOPOGRAPHY 


29 


The  streets  are   paved   with  irregular  blocks 

V  of  lava,   precisely   like   those  of  Naples,   except 

that  at  Pompeii  sidewalks  are  found  everywhere, 

whereas  at  Naples  they  are  conspicuous  only  by 

their  absence. 

The  rain-water  from  the  roofs  ran  for  the 
most  part  inwards,  and  was  collected  in  the 
implitvia  of  the  houses  from  whence  it  ran  into 
tanks,  and  when  these  were  full  its  outflow  was 
generally  by  a  pipe  into  the  street.  Only  a  part 
of  the  town  seems  to  have  been  furnished  with 
\/ sewers,  hence  the  streets  were  waterways,  and 
when  the  roofs  existed  must  have  been  impass- 
able in  heavy  rains.  To  obviate  this  inconve- 
nience, stepping  stones  were  placed  across  them 
at  frequent  intervals,  and  these  must  have  been 
a  great  obstacle  to  the  circulation  of  wheeled 
traffic.  This  and  other  considerations ,  such 
as  the  deficient  stable  accomodation,  lead  us  to 
suppose  that  private  carriages  were  but  little 
used  in  the  town,  and  that  the  wheel  traffic 
was  chiefly  confined  to  carts.  These  would  ea- 
sily pass  the  stepping  stones,  as  they  would 
proceed  at  a  foot's  pace,  and  the  horses  being 
loosely  yoked  in  the  curricle  fashion  could  rea- 
dily step  over  the  stones,  or  pass  between  them 
in  the  wheel  tracks  which  are  everywhere  vi- 
sible. 


s/ 


V-T- 


-  '  J. 


4 


^'1 


V 


<  i 

* 


#. 


« 


W0 


If 


The   appearance  of  the  buildings    will   gene- 
rally cause  a  feeling  of  disappointment.   In  Ro- 
man times  they  were  probably  rarely  higher  than 
two  stories,  that  is  they  had  a  ground  floor  and 
one   floor  above   it,  with    the   exception   of  the 
House  of  Diomede  which  was  three  stories  high 
and  some  of  the  houses  near  the  lesser  Forum, 
which   being  against  the   side  of  the   hill  have 
a  two  story  basement   under  the   ground   floor. 
We  must  not  dismj-ss  a  point  so  disputed  as 
the   height   of  the   Pompeian   houses   without  a 
few  words  of  comment.  A   building   act  of  the 
Reign  of  Augustus  limited  the  height  of  houses 
to   70    feet,  and  this   was    reduced    in  Trajan's 
time  to  60  feet.   But  we  much  doubt  any  hou- 
ses so   high  having  existed   in    Pompeii,    at  all 
events   after  the   rebuilding  of  the   town    which 
followed  the  earthquake  of  63  a.  d.   The  loose 
materials   found    in    the  excavations   are    never 
sufficient   to    account   for   more  than   one    story 
above  that  which  is  actually  standing;  and  thou-xh 
the  lower  walls  are  very  strong  and  appear  to 
be  built  to  carry  a  more  lofty  structure,  these 
are  often  of  pre-Roman  work  and  built  of  lar^e 
blocks  of  stone,  a  style  of  building  which  is  ne- 
cessarily  more   solid   than   brickwork.   There   is 
no  evidence  whatever  to  support  the  theory  that 
the  upper  stories  of  the  houses  were  of  wood 


\^ 


I, 


30 


POMPEII 


The  houses  on  the  walls  leading  from  the 
triangular  forum  westwards  are  not  a  fair  cri- 
terion, for  it  is  clear  that  their  basements  were 
constructed  after  the  city  walls  were  dismantled, 
and  that  they  were  encroachments  on  what  had 
once  been  the  fortifications  of  the  town. 

Now,  on  the  other  hand,  the  roofs  throughout 
the  city  having  all  fallen  in,  and  the  upper  parts 
of  the  walls  havingf  in  most  instances  crumbled 
away,^  we  find  a  city  which  looks  as  if  it  were 
in  course  of  being  built,  with  its  roofless  walls 
standing  only  some  ten  or  twelve  feet  above 
the  ground. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  scarcely  any 
wood-work  has  survived,  consequently  the  hou- 
ses are  without  doors,  and  in  most  instances 
only  a  sloping  mark  remains  upon  the  wall  to 
show  where  the  staircases  formerly  stood. 

One  result  of  this  is  to  make  the  houses  seem 
very  much  smaller  than  they  really  are,  and 
especially  to  dwarf  the  rooms  till  they  appear 
inconveniently  minute.  It  is  not  our  intention  to 
load  this  book  with  measurements,  but  in  treat- 
ing of  some  of  the  houses  we  will  give  the  di- 
mensions of  the  rooms,  to  enable  the  reader 
better  to  appreciate  their  actual  size. 
I  It  must  also  be  remembered  that  the  town 
Itself  was  very  small   to  our   notions,  and  that 


«) 


# 

^ 


i 


>fi 


\ 


s 


•I 


^'« 


( 


TOPOGRAPHY 


31 


the  longest  straight  line  which  could  be  drawn 
in  it,  namely  from  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum  to 
the  Amphitheatre  would  be  little  more  than  three 
quarters  of  a  mile.    The  population  of  the  city 
is  estimated  at  12,000  and  an  allowance  of  8000 
more  for  the  suburbs  is  probably  a  liberal  one. 
The  main   streets  of  the  city  are  at  right  an- 
gles to  one  another,  thus  dividing  it  into  «  blocks  >. 
These  have  been  named  and  numbered  for  con- 
venience of  reference,  but  in  Roman  times  there 
was  no  such  designation,  or  at  least  none  such 
was  painted  up.  The  reason  for  this  would  pro- 
bably be  that  the    streets  of  all  Roman   towns 
were  known  by  a  regular  series  of  names;  the 
principal  Street  running  North  and  South  being 
called    «  Cardo  >,   and   that    running    East    and 
West  «  Decumanus  >.Tt   has  been   conjectured 
that  the  street  now  called  the  Street  of  Stabiae 
was  the  Cardo  of  Pompeii,  while  the  Decuma- 
nus   Major  was  the  present  Street  of  Nola,  and 
the    Decumanus     Minor    the    Street    of   Abun- 
dance. 

According  to  Professor  Fiorelli  's  admirable 
plan,  ihe  town  is  divided  into  eight  Regiones,  ^ 
each  regio  being  divided  into  a  convenient  num- 
ber of  insulce  or  blocks  by  the  cross  streets,  and 
each  insula  having  its  separate  numeration.  A 
little    attention  to' the    careful   plans    published 


1/ 


32 


POMPEII 


with  this  work,  will  enable  the  reader  to  iden- 
tify any  house  in  the  town   without  difficulty. 

The  blank  on  the  map  shows  the  part  still 
remaining  to  be  excavated,  and  of  that  already 
searched  Regio  I.  is  the  poorest,  and  Regiones 
V.  and  VI.  the  richest. 

vVery  many  inscriptions  painted  usually  in  red 
letters  will  be  noticed  on  the  walls  of  the  houses. 
Most  of  these  are  election  advertisements  ask- 
ing the  inhabitants  to  vote  for  So-and-so  as 
^dile,  or  for  some  one  or  other  of  the  public 
offices. 

The  following  are  instances  of  such  inscrip- 
tions, and  are  selected  because  they  tend  to 
show  the  existence  of  trade  societies  in  Pompeii. 

MARCELLINUM.  ^DILEM.  LIGNARI. 
ET.  PLOSTARI.  ROGANT. 

«;  The  Carpenters  and  Carters  wish  Marcel- 
linus  to  be  y£dile  >. 

VERUM.  MD.  O.  F.  VNGVENTARI.  FACITE.  ROG. 

Please  make  Veriis  y^dile.  The  Perfumers 
ask  you  to  make  him,  so. 

Similar  inscriptions  in  favour  of  different  can- 
didates are  recorded  by  the  Saltworkers,  the 
Porters,    the    Goldsmiths    and    the    Fruiterers. 


TOPOGRAPHY 


•j'l 


€• 

#> 
4 


4* 


4 


\i 


♦ 

i 


These  advertisements  generally  ended  with  the 
letters  O.  V.  F.  {^Oro  vos  faciatis)  w^hich  is 
equivalent  to   <(  Please  vote  for  him  >. 

The  entertainments  in  the  Amphitheatre  were  ^ 
also  advertised  in  this  manner,  and  besides  these 
many  graffiti  or  rudely  scratched  inscriptions 
have  been  discovered,  some  of  which  are  very 
interesting,  and  will  be  mentioned  when  w^e  are 
treating  of  the  places  where  they  occur. 

Taverns  were  almost  universally  placed  at v 
the  street  corners,  and  seem  to  have  closely 
resembled  the  small  wine-shops  of  Naples.  The 
regular  sign  in  Roman  times  was  a  bush,  and 
as  ivy  w^as  the  plant  sacred  to  Bacchus,  an 
ivybush  was  the  favourite  sign  of  a  drinking 
shop  ;  so  much  so  ,  that  the  Romans  had  the 
proverb  <l  Good  wine  needs  no  ivy  >  which  we 
still  keep  in  English  as  a  proverb,  though  the 
custom  of  a  bush  at  an  Inn  door,  common  a 
hundred  years  ago,  has  died  out  in  the  British 
Isles  altogether.  In  the  neighbourhood  of  Na- 
ples a  tavern  will  hardly  be  found  which  has  not 
the  orthodox  bush  against  its  doorway. 

If  the  sign  w^as  used  in  Pompeii  there  is  na- 
turally no  trace  of  it  now,  but  several  of  their 
tavern  signs  still  remain.  Close  to  the  back  of 
the  Temple  of  Jupiter  on  the  north-eastern  side 
is  a  sign  in  terracotta  representing  two  men  car- 

3 


34 


POMPEII 


rying  an  amphora  slung  on  a  pole,  much  in  the 
same  way  as  the  <  Jolly  Brewers  >  carry  a  bar- 
rel between  them  in  the  tavern  sign  at  home. 
Within  a  few  doors  of  this,  in  the  same  street, 
and  directly  opposite  the  northwestern  exit  of 
the  Forum,  is  a  sign  representing  a  goat,  which 
in  many  of  the  books  is  stated  to  be  the  sign 
of  a  dairyman  or  milkseller.  It  is  more  probable 
that  it  was  simply  the  sign  of  a  wine  shop,  the 
goat  being  sacred  to  Bacchus  nd  usually  sacrificed 

to  him. 

Again  the  «  Chequers  >  is  a  very  common 
Inn  sign,  and  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact  that 
€  Chequers  >  or  «  draughts  y>  was  a  very  fa- 
vourite game  with  the  Romans,  as  is  abundantly 
proved  by  the  frescoes  found  in  the  wine  shops. 
i/The  supply  of  water  in  Pompeii  must  have 
been  extremely  plentiful,  but  until  lately  it  was 
unknown  whence  it  w^as  derived.  The  discovery 
of  an  acqueduct  near  Bosco  tre  Case  in  1884 
set  the  matter  at  rest :  and  though  it  could  not 
be  traced  without  more  expense  than  was  jus- 
tifiable, its  direction  seems  to  show  that  the 
Pompeian  water  supply  was  derived  from  the 
Nolan  hills  from  whence  in  fact  the  town  of 
Naples  is    now    furnished    with    most    excellent 

water. 

At  any  rate  in   walking  through  Pompeii  we 


TOPOGRAPHY 


35 


r4 


.{ 


4 


V 


I 


♦^ 
> 


( 


) 


4 

4 


observe  numerous  public  fountains  in  the  stn 
and  almost  every  private  house  had  ornamental 
waterworks  belonging  to  it.  These  were  usually 
placed  in  front  of  the  Hall  door,  and  as  this 
door  would  be  open  except  in  severe  weather, 
the  fountains  and  gardens  w^ould  have  a  very 
pretty  appearance  from  the  street,  and  brighten 
the   whole  city. 

Leaden  water  pipes  will  be  observed  running 
in  all  directions,  though  tradition  says  that  great 
numbers  of  them  w^re  torn  up  by  the  Bourbon 
Kings  and  melted  down  for  sale. 

The  Romans  it  will  be  seen  understood  the 
theory 'of  jets  and  sprays  of  water,  and  though 
the  best  of  their  fountains  have  been  removed 
to  the  Naples  Museum,  enoogh  remain  in  their 
original  places  to  give  a  good  idea  of  their 
taste  in  this  respect. 

Pompeii  has  been  almost  stripped  of  its  sta- 
tuary, and  all  the  best  paintings  have  also  been 
removed.  This  was  no  doubt  necessary  to  their 
preservation,  and  they  can  besides  be  much  more 
conveniently  seen  and  compared  in  a  Museum 
than  they  could  be  were  they  scattered  here 
and  there  throughout  a  ruined  city.  Recently 
however,  owing  partly  to  the  crowded  condition 
of  the  Museum,  the  buildings  of  Pompeii  have 
in    many  cases   been  roofed   in  ,  and    their  art 


fu,.   .«>-  ■HMje.->...jijj.»l..-,-a....j^j.jaaJ.M-..i.-^^.i.- ■»/!..■.■< 


l^^ggBUHHiiaiii^ 


36 


POMPEII 


treasures  left    on    the    spot    where    they    were 
found. 

^/There  are  about  the  Pompeian  houses  a  few 
general  characteristics  which  will  strike  the  care- 
ful observer.  One  of  these  is  the  almost  uni- 
versal absence  of  chimneys,  w^hich  leads  some 
writers  to  infer  that  the  climate  of  the  country 
has  materially  changed  since  the  Roman  times. 
This  how^ever  is  not  necessarily  the  case,  for 
we  find  a  strong  prejudice  against  fires  prevail- 
ing now  in  Southern  Italy  ,  and  it  is  only  of 
late  years  that  the  use  of  grates  has  become 
common  in  Naples,  the  inhabitants  preferring 
an  unwholesome  brazier  to  a  bright  fire,  and  a 
cold  house  to  a  warm  one. 
yAnother  feature  of  a  Roman  house  is  the  ex- 
treme darkness  wiiich  must  have  prevailed  in  it. 
Some  of  the  smaller  windows  were  (glazed,  but 
very  many  rooms  had  no  window  at  all,  and 
moreover  opened  into  the  cloister  of  the  atrium, 
so  that  no  direct  light  can  have  reached  them. 
But  we  shall  see  further  on,  that  home  life  w^as 
not  a  necessity  to  the  Pompeians,  and  it  is  pro- 
bably only  a  very  slight  exaggeration  to  say 
that  they  used  their  houses  to  eat  and  to  sleep 
in,  and  spent  their  days  mainly  in  places  of  pub- 
lic resort. 


4 


♦J 


4' 


I 


^ 

A 


I 


4 


I 


CHAPTER  III 

SOCIAL  LIFE  AT  POMPEII 

Character  of  Vespasian  —  Strictures  on  Roman  morals 
by  St.  Paul  and  Jnvenal^  The  religion  of  the  period  — 
The  Deification  of  Augustus  —  The  adttiinistration  of 
Justice  —  Morality  of  the  stage  —  The  Baths  —  The 
Forum  —  Gluttony  -  Gambling— Suicide  —  The  poorer 
classes  —  Home  life  —  Domestic  slavery  —  Freedmen  — 

Children  —  Schoolmasters  —  Education  —  Daily  life 

Marriage  —  The  weddiiig  cake  —  Coming  of  age  —  The 
y^dile  —  Duumvirs  —  Decurions. 

This  chapter  will  deal  mainly  with  the  state^^ 
of  Roman  Society  during  the  years  a.  d.  65  to 
79,  in  order  that  we  may  gather  a  general  idea 
of  the  people,  at  the  time  jof  jyie^destructifiji  of 
Pompeii.  This  period  comprises  the  last  tw^o 
years  of  the  reign  of  Nero,  who  died  a.  d.  68, 
the  short  but  infamous  reigns  of  Galba,  Otho, 
and  Vitellius,  who  were  all  murdered  in  the 
year  a.  d.  69;  and  the  whole  reign  of  Vespasian 
who  was  proclaimed  Emperor  at  Alexandria  in 


38 


POMPEII 


A.  D.  69  and  died  in  a.  d.  79.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded by  his  son  Titus,  who  had  obtained  the 
Imperial  dignity  only  a  few  months  before  the 
destruction  of  Pompeii  took  place. 

The  most  important  of  these  reigns  to  the 
matter  in  hand  is  that  of  Vespasian,  for  it  cov- 
ers nearly  the  whole  of  the  period  of  w^hich 
w^e  are  treating.  He  w^as  of  obscure  descent,  a 
thorough  soldier,  and  much  addicted  to  practi- 
cal reforms.  He  gave  great  attention  to  the  re- 
pair of  the  public  buildings  at  Rome,  and  spent 
much  care  and  money  upon  the  highways.  The 
Imperial  example  w^ould  naturally  have  a  great 
\X  influence  in  the  provinces  ,  and  it  is  no  doubt 
due  to  the  Emperor  's  initiative  in  his  Capital 
City  that  so  much  care  and  such  elaborate  de- 
coration was  lavished  upon  the  buildings  of 
Pompeii. 

Vespasian  w^as  an  excellent  Emperor,  though 
his  personal  morality  seems  to  have  been  no 
better  than  that  of  his  neighbours.  Of  the  state 
of  things  existing  in  about  a.  d.  60,  St.  Paul 
has  draw^n  a  fearful  but  by  no  means  an  exag- 
gerated picture,  in  his  Epistle  to  the  Romans; 
and  the  poet  Juvenal,  who  w^as  born  rather  be- 
fore this  and  was  the  great  satirist  of  the  first 
century,  was  equally  severe  upon_J;he_ state  of 
Roman  morals   and   exposes  them   in   the^ros- 


SOCIAL  LIFE    AT  POMPEII 


m 


\ 


! 


> 


sest  manner^  He  says  that  «  succeeding  genera- 
tions can  only  imitate  our  vices,  they  cannot 
add  to  them  »  ;  and  we  shall  see  that  the-_xums_ 
of  Pompeii  more  than  hear,  out  w^hatever  was 
written  of  the  depravity  of  the  period.  The  dawn 
of  the  Christian  era  took  place  at  a  time  when 
the  most  civilised  nation  on  the  face  of  the  globe 
was  rushing  to  the  doom  which  vice  always  pre- 
pares for  its  votaries.  The  ancient  glory  of  Rome 
was  w^aning;  her  aristocracy  was  utterly  corrupt; 
honour  and  virtue  had  perished  from  the  land,  to 
give  place  to  inhuman  vice  and  wanton  cruelty. 

Let  us  glance  for  a  moment  at  the  worship 
of  the  period,  of  which  Gibbon  says  so  justly 
that  it  w^as  considered  «  by  the  people  as  equally 
true,  by  the  philosophers  as  equally  false,  and 
by  the  magistrates  as  equaUy  useful  >.  The  wor- 
ship was  utterly  degraded,  h^ut  still  their  temples 
were  kept  up  with  great  splendour,  and  their 
-ritual  was  carried  out  with  extreme  minuteness. 
The  proudest  title  of  the  Emperor  was  that  of 
<  Pontifex  Maximus  »  and  the  greatest  Deity 
the  Olympian  Jupiter  w^hom  the  Romans  had 
adopted  from  the  Greeks.  But  even  Jupiter  was 
only  believed  in  by  the  lower  orders.  Horace 
writes  that «  they  believed  Jupiter  reigned  because 
he  thundered  »,  Ovid  says  €  the  gods  are  made 
by  the  poets  >,  Seneca  that  they  are  an  «  ignoble 


40 


POMPEII 


SOCIAL  LIFE    AT  POMPEII 


41 


crowds,  and  Martial  preferred  the  favour  of  Caesar 
to  that  of  Jupiter! 

It  was  probably  a  feeling  of  this  sort  which 
made  the  deification  of  the  Emperor,  and  the 
worship  first  of  the  Julia  Gens,  and  afterwards 
of  Augustus,  so  popular  and  prevalent  in  Roman 
times.  His  widow  Livia  was  made  a  priestess 
by  the  Roman  Senate,  and  is  thus  represented 
in  the  statue  found  in  the  Augusteum  at  Pompeii. 
That  the  festival  of  Augustus  was  kept  with  great 
splendour  at  Naples  is  matter  of  history,  and  to 
judge  by  the  frequent  occurrence  of  the  word 
€  Augustalis  »  in  the  Pompeian  inscriptions,  w^e 
may  presume  that  this  class  of  priests  was  very 
numerous,  though  it  is  conjectured  that  it  was 
not  very  select. 
sy  Partly  however  from  a  disbelief  in  the  gods 
of  their  own  mythology ,  and  partly  because 
ignorance  must  always  be  fed  by  superstition, 
foreign  gods  and  goddesses  w^ere  constantly  tak- 
ing their  place  in  the  Roman  system.  That  many 
of  these  should  come  from  Egypt  Was  only  nat- 
ural, for  was  not  Italy  nourished  by  the  Libyan 
granaries?  Were  not  the  merchants  of  Egypt 
paramount  in  South  Italy,  and  did  they  not  bring 
their  gods  with  them? 

Moreover,  as  if  the   worship  of  the  gods  of 
Rome    was  not    vile    enough;    as    if  the   cult  of 


si 


f 


^^ 


< 

I 


li 


<>  1 


^1 


j/^**^ 


Bacchus,  Venus,  and  Fortune,  did  not  already 
overstep  the  bounds  of  absolute  debauchery,  these 
foreign  rites  vied  with  one  another  in  infamy 
and  w^ickedness,  till  even  the  very  heathens 
themselves  suppressed  them  one  by  one,  perceiv- 
ing that  they  were  sapping  the  very  lifeblood 
and  energy  of  the  people. 

And  thus  it  arose  that  the  maintenance  of  a  creed 
w^hich   was  supported   only  by  pandering  to  the 
vices  of  its  devotees,  led  more  and  more  to  the  de-  r 
pravity  of  the  nation,  ruined  the  self  respect  of  the 
people  and  hurried  on  the  decline  of  the   Empire. 

And  if  the  religion  of  the  country  was  in 
decadence,  if  the  Priest,  the  Flamen,  and  the 
Augur  were  as  gross  impostors  as  the  Chaldean 
astrologer  and  the  spiritualistic  necromancer  who 
were  gradually  supplanting  them  in  public  favour, 
could  it  be  said  that  tlie  sacred  fount  of  Justice 
was^ -any  pur^^r?  W^as  the  Basilica  less  impious 
than  the  Temple?  Was  it  a  Christian  slander 
which  was  written  in  a.  d.  6o.  by  St.  Luke,  that 
Felix  the  Roman  Governor  «  hoped  that  money 
should  have  been  given  him  by  Paul  that  he 
might  loose  him:  wherefore  he  sent  for  him  the 
oftener  » ?  Was  it  a  fact,  or  was  it  only  an  un- 
warrantable surmise  that  this  same  Felix,  disre- 
garding the  justice  of  the  case,  *  left  Paul  bound  > 
merely  <  to  shew  the  Jews  a  pleasure*? 


42 


POMPEII 


ki 


^We  are  afraid  that  we  must  reply  that  Justice 
no  longer  presided  over  the  Law  Courts  with 
blinded  eyes,  and  equally  poised  scales.  Apart 
from  the  atrocities  unblushingly  perpetrated  by 
the  Emperors,  the  cruelty  and  venality  of  the 
Judges  was  notorious,  and  bribery  of  the  worst 
kind  was  universally  practised. 

\/rhe  theatre,  and  especially  the  comic  stage, 
was  as  deirraded  and  vicious  as  it  could  be.  The 
Oscan  drama  with  its  buffoon  (  from  whence 
sprang  the  Pulcinella  of  Naples  )  took  its  rise 
at  Atella  near  Pompeii  ,  and  the  dramas  were 
acted  then,  as  now,  in  the  local  patois,  and  filled 

.jBcitli-amsavoury  jokes  and  the  most  abominable 
gestures. 
vThe   Baths  were  the  centre  of  the  vice  of  the 
upper  classes  and  admitted  places  of  assignation  ; 
while   any    woman    who   sold   goods   publicly  in 
the  Forum  was  no  longer  entitled  to  respect,  but 
might  be  treated  as  the  basest  of  her  sex. 
^/The  public  life  of  Pompeii  was  thus  as  vile  as 
it  could  well  be.  The  deo^radation  of  woman  was,, 
as  great  as  it  has  ever  been   in  the   history  of 

_  the  world,  and  where  woman  is  degraded,  man 
will  surely  be  dissipated  and  worthless.  And  this 
was  the  case  in  the   middle  of  the  first  century. 

vl'he  upper  classes  were  extremely  wealthy,  and 
spent   their    money  in    lavish    profusion  on    the 


SOCIAL  LIFE    AT  POMPEII 


43 


<\ 


,  I 


gratification  of  their  worst  instincts.  We  can 
hardly  credit  the  sums  said  to  have  been  spent 
on  a  single  banquet,  and  can  scarcely  believe  that 
so  civilised  a  nation  could  have  recourse  to 
vomiting  in  order  that  they  might  eat  again. 

Yet  with  all  their  luxurious  extravagance  they  ^^ 
were  a  deeply  wretched  race.  Their  magnificence 
could  not  give  them  happiness,  any  more  than 
their  uncontrolled  vice  gave  them  freedom;  and 
Horace  wrote  truly  of  them,  that  «  dark  care 
brooded  over  their  brass-prowed  pleasure  boats, 
and  sat  behind  their  caparisoned  horsemen  >. 

Their  lives  were  passed  in  the  flashing  exci- 
tement of  spurious  pleasure.  Gambling  was  uni-^^ 
versal,  and  ruin,  then  as  ever,  followed  in  its 
train.  Drunkennes  was  prevalent  and  incurred  no 
censure  whatever;  the  vilest  gluttony  was  rather 
creditable  than  otherwise  ,  and  in  short  thej/^ 
wealthy  classes  seem  to  have  been  restrained 
by  no  moral  code  at  all. 

It  is  not  to  be  wondered  at  that  suicide  was 
common.  The  sated  appetite  could  find  no  eew 
pleasure,  the  ruined  gambler  no  resource ;  and 
a  voluntary  death  seemed  preferable  to  an  exis- 
tence from  which  every  joy  had  been  reft 
by  misuse.  It  is  surprising  to  see  how  great 
writers ,  clever  hardheaded  men  ,  could  venture 
to  glorify  the    miserable    cowardice   of  suicide  ; 


44 


POMPEII 


but  they  undoubtedly  did  so;  holding  it  to  be  a 
virtue  in  a  rr.an  to  face  the  inevitable,  and  to 
destroy  himself  when  his  earthly  pleasures  were 
at  an  end. 

^The  poorer  classes  were  as  squalid  and  mi- 
serable as  the  wealthy  were  luxurious  aod  ex- 
travagant. We  have  not  yet  discovered  the  low 
parts  of  the  town  ;  these  will  no  doubt  be  found 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  the  Amphitheatre,  and 
we  cannot  but  feel  sure  that  the  testimony  of 
the  ancient  writers  about  the  working  classes, 
will  be  found  as  correct  as  their  censures  on  the 
wealthy. 

We  have  so  far  touched  on  the  public  and 
semipublic  life  of  the  Pompeians,  let  us  now 
-  ^^^^  to  the  homes,  and  see,  if  we  can,  what  went 
on  within  doors,  and  what  effect  the  training 
they  received  there  was  likely  to  have  upon  the 
youth  of  the  city. 

^The  Master  of  a  Roman  house  was  an  auto- 
crat of  the  most  absolute  description.  Over  his 
slaves  he  had  the  power  of  life  and  death,  and 
he  did  not  hesitate  to  exercise  it.  A  slave  was 
brutally  flogged,  chained,  or  crucified  on  the  smal- 
lest provocation,  and  even  Roman  ladies  did  not 
hesitate  to  have  their  women  whipped  when  they 
displeased  them.  Juvenal  describes  pathetically 
how  poor  Psecas  was  cruelly  flogged  with  oxhide 


SOCIAL  LIFE   AT  POMPEII 


45 


if 


4 


1/ 


l^ 


thongs  for  putting  one  of  her  mistresses  curlses 
out  of  place,  and  this  was  no  exceptional  treatment 
even  for  the  female   slaves. 

In  the  Naples  Museum  {^Small  bronzes  No. 
73937)  i^  ^  bronze  collar  bearing  the  inscription 
€  I  am  a  slave  arrest  me  because  I  am  running- 

o 

aw^ay  ».  This  collar  was  no  doubt  welded  to  the 
neck  of  some  wretch  who  had  endeavoured  to 
escape  from  the  w^anton  cruelties  of  his  barbarous 
master.  It  would  serve  the  purpose  of  a  convict's 
dress,  and  ensure  the  apprehension  of  the  fugitive 
at  the  hands  of  any  one  who  fell  in  with   him. 

The  ears  of  slaves  were  also  bored  after  the 
Jewish  fashion,  and  in-  case  of  dishonesty  the 
wretch  was  branded  on  the  forehead  by  the 
executioner,  with  the  letters  fur  signifying  «  A 
thief ».  Manacles  for  slaves  are  exhibited  in  the 
same  wall  case  with  the  collar  we  have  men- 
tioned, and  a  small  bronze  figure  of  a  slave  with 
his  hands  tied  behind  him,   is  near  them. 

The  Master  occasionally  gave  his  freedom  to  \^ 
a  slave  who  then  became  a  <  Libertus  >,  always 
more  or  less  subservient  to  his  former  Master, 
who  was  now  styled  his  Patron.  A  great  part 
of  the  commerce  of  this  period  was  conducted 
by  these  Liberti,  for  commerce  was  considered 
degrading  in  those  days,  and  perhaps  the  Patron 
found  a  part  of  the  capital,  and   shared  in  the 


46 


POMPEII 


profits.  Certain  it  is  that  these  Liberti  were  a 
ruffianly  class,  and  that  they  exercised  a  good 
deal  of  power  in  an  underhand  way.  How  far 
they  continued  to  regulate  their  former  masters' 
households  may  be  doubtful,  but  it  is  certain  that 
they  always  owed  them  a  definite  allegiance,  and 
we  often  find  valuable  gifts  presented  by  them 
to  their  patrons.  Slaves  w^ere  sometimes  able  by 
saving  up  their  daily  allowance  of  food  to  pur- 
chase their  own  freedom,  and  that  class  which 
was  employed  in  the  theatres,  received  money 
payments  besides  their  dress  and  rations. 

The  release  of  a  slave  from  slavery  was  re- 
gularly effected  in  three  ways. 

The  first  and  most  formal  was  by  his  master's 
declaration  in  open  Court  before  the  Praetor:  the 
second  was  by  the  master  instructing  the  Censor 
to  enroll  the  man  as  a  citizen:  and  the  third  was 
by  will. 

The  English  word  «  manumission  >  which  is 
used  of  liberating  persons  from  slavery,  is  derived 
directly  from  the  Roman  ceremony;  for  the  master 
having  declared  before  the  Pr^tor  that  the  man 
was  free,  struck  him  lightly  with  his  hand,  and 
thus  literally  «  manumitted  >  him,  that  is  to  say 
*  discharged  him  from  his  hand  ». 

In  the  third  case  the  freedom  might  be  given 
with  or   without  conditions,  and   sometimes  the 


i) 


i 


SOCIAL  LIFE  AT  POMPEII 


ft' 

I'! 


9 
i 


it 


testator  instructed  his  heir  to  liberate  the  slave 
or  slaves  indicated  ,  but  not  more  than  half  of 
a  man's  slaves  could  be  liberated  by  will.  The 
enormous  number  of  slaves  owned  by  a  wealthy 
citizen  was  naturally  a  matter  of  considerable 
danger  to  him,  and  hence  a  law  was  passed  that 
in  the  case  of  a  Roman  dying  under  circumstances ' 
of  suspicion,  all  his  slaves  should  be  put  to  death 
at  once. 

Nor  was  the  conduct  of  the  Roman  to  their  X 
own  children  one  whit  better  than  that  under 
which  their  slaves  groaned.  St.  Paul  writing  to 
the  Galatians  in  a.  d.  58,  says  that  c  the  heir 
as  long  as  he  is  a  child  differeth  nothin^r  from 
a  servant  (i.  e.  a  slave)  though  he  be  lord  of 
all.  >  A  Father  had  full  power  of  life  and  death 
over  his  child  during  its  minority;  indeed  as  soon 
as  it  was  born  he  either  accepted  it  as  a  member 
of  his  family,  or  he  rejected  it  and  it  was  aban- 
doned to  die  in  the  streets.  If  it  was  accepted, 
it  passed  to  the  ladies'  apartments  and  the  Father 
probably  never  saw  it  again  till  it  w^as  full  grown; 
but  his  power  of  life  and  death  remained ,  and 
the  child  might  be  put  to  death  at  his  good  will 
and  pleasure. 

The  schoolmasters  were  as  brutal  as  other  clas- 
ses, and  the  classical  writers  make  us  wonder  that 
the  Roman  youth  ever  survived  their  harsh  treat- 


i  f 


vi^4|<waiiiflu 


48 


POMPEII 


merit.  The  picture  in  the  Naples  Museum  (9066) 
representing  the  flogging  of  a  boy  in  the  Pom- 
peian   school,  bears  out  the  statements  of  Horace 
and   Martial  that  excessive  corporal   punishment 
was    habitually    resorted    to   during  this    period, 
'^^ducation  was  at  a  low  ebb,  and  consisted  mainly 
of  Greek  which  was  the  language  of  culture,  and 
occupied    much  the    same  position    in    Rome  as 
French  does  in  Europe  at  the  present  day.  Every 
educated  person  was  expected  to  speak  it  fluently, 
and  to  be  able  to  write  it  correctly. 
v/Home  life,  as  we  understand  it,  seems  to  have 
been  unknown  in  these  evil  times.   The    Master 
of  the  house  usually  spent  the  morning  in  receiv- 
ing his    clients ,   and    transacting    business    with 
them.  These  were  the  men  w^ho  farmed  his  estates, 
and  managed  the  slave  labour  with   which  they 
w^ere  tilled.   The    usual   course   appears  to   have 
been  to  divide  the  produce  between  the  Landlord 
and  the  Tenant,  the  Master's  share  being  often  sold 
by  retail  in  a  shop  adjoining  his  house,  and  usually 
opening  into  it,  a  plan  still  adopted  in  Italy. 

A  lounge  in  the  Forum,  a  chat  beneath  the 
portico  of  the  Basilica;  an  hour  or  two  in  the 
Baths;  or  a  performance  at  the  Theatre  filled 
up  the  day;  while  the  evening  was  passed  in 
revelry  and  merriment  enlivened  by  the  music 
and  dancing  of  professional  performers. 


f'tViji 


'*i*' 


SOCIAL  LIFE   AT  POMPEII 


49 


2"'i  #1 J  t  ■ 


i< 


^    > 


) 


And  what    was  the    daily   life  of  the    Roman 
ladies? 

We  can   hardly  suppose  that  they  carried  de- 
pravity to  the   extent  which  their  husbands  did, 
yet  if  we  read    the    accounts   of    Roman  life  at 
Baiae,   we  cannot  think  they  came  much  short  of 
It.   Dress  was  naturally  a  passion  with  them,  and 
they  spent  enormous  sums  upon  it.  Jewelry  and '^ 
perfumes  absorbed  a  large  portion  of  their  means. 
The  rou£-e  with  which  they  painted   their   faces 
is  still  extant,   and    we   may   infer  that  if  their 
lives  were  less  depraved  than  those  of  their  hus- 
bands ,  it  is  as  much  as  we  can  say   for  them. 
That  they  had  innocent  amusements  is  abundantly 
proved  by  the  paintings  in  the  Naples  Museum, 
where  we  find  pretty  pictures  of  ladies  playing 
the  lyre;   sketching   from   a   statue;   touching   in 
an  inscription;   and    a   group,  perhaps  the  most 
graceful  of  all,  represents  a  beautiful  girl  having 
her  hair  dressed  in  the  presence  of  her  friends. 
Again,  on  a  massive  silver  pail  in  the  Gem  room 
is  a  fine  bas  relief  of  a  lady  at  her  bath,  attended 
by  four  female  slaves.  The  colonnade  at  the  back 
may  perhaps  indicate  that  the    scene   is  laid  in 
the  Public  Baths  to  which  ladies  as  well  as  gentle- 
men habitually  repaired.  They  also  attended  the 
Theatres  and  the  sports  of  the    Arena  ,    where  ^ 
they  were   witnesses  of  the  shocking   scenes  of 


I! 


50 


POMPEII 


brutality  which  did  so  much  to  degrade  the  Ro- 
man nation.  Their  usual  method  of  locomotion 
appears  to  have  been  by  litter,  in  which  they 
were  carried  on  the  shoulders  of  slaves  to  all 
parts  of  the  town.  That  they  spent  a  great  part 
V  of  their  time  in  the  temples  is  also  certain ;  in 
fact  the  main  reason  why  the  worship  of  Isis  was 
put  down,  was  because  the  Roman  ladies  spent 
hours  in  pretended  celebrations  of  the  rites,  during 
which  time  they  were  completely  uncontrolled. 
While  we  are  on  the  subject  of  Roman  ladies, 
it  will  be  convenient  to  speak  of  the  marriage 
rites  of  those  days,  since  this  is  a  subject  which 
in  all  ages  has  mightily  influenced  the  status  of 
women.  By  an  edict  of  Augustus,  engagements 
were  limited  to  two  years,  a  law  which  we  think 
might  advantageously  be  re-enacted  now.  During 
this  period  either  party  might  sue  the  other  for 
breach  of  promise  of  marriage,  if  it  was  proposed 
to  break  off  the  engagement.  Girls  might  not  be 
engaged  till  they  were  ten  years  old,  and  might 
not  be  married  till  they  were  twelve,  but  at  this 
early  age  the  consent  of  their  guardians  was  in- 
dispensable. There  were  also  tables  of  affinity 
which  regulated  the  marriages  of  those  who  were 
not  blood  relations,  as  well'  as  provisions  to  prevent 
the  marriage  of  those  whose  near  relationship 
rendered  it  undesirable. 


'j--'- 


) 


SOCIAL  LIFE   AT  POMPEII 


51 


/ 


As  to  the  form  of  marria^^e  it  was  usually 
merely  a  mutual  consent  before  witnesses  ,  and 
there  was  no  religious  ceremony  at  all.  The  more 
solemn  form  of  marriage  was  that  by  €  confar- 
reatio  »  when  the  man  and  woman  partook  jointly 
of  a  cake  in  the  presence  of  ten  witnesses,  and 
one  of  the  Priests  of  high  rank;  but  this  rite 
seems  to  have  been  but  little  practised  in  the 
period  we  are  treating  of,  excepting  among  the 
upper  classes. 

A  marriage  never  took  place  upon  an  unlucky 
day,  or  upon  the  eve  of  it;  the  whole  months 
of  February  and  May  were  considered  inauspi- 
cious, and  upon  a  great  number  of  festivals  the 
marriage  of  maidens  was  prohibited,  although  the 
nuptials  of  a  widow  might  properly  be  celeb'^rated. 

The  bride\s  dress  was  a  long  white  tunic  bound 
with  a  girdle.  Her  veil  as  well  as  her  shoes,  were 
of  a  bright  yellow  colour,  and  her  hair  was  parted 
with  the  point  of  a  spear  for  the  wedding 
ceremony.  She  was  conducted  to  the  house  of  the 
husband  in  the  evening,  accompanied  by  a  torch- 
light procession  and  bearing  a  distaff  in  her  hand; 
and  was  carried  over  the  threshold  ,  lest  she 
should  have  the  ill-luck  to  stumble  in  crossing 
it.  Her  husband  handed  her  fire  and  water  which 
she  touched  in  token  of  purification,  and  the  keys 
of  the  house  were  delivered  into   her  hands.  A 


52 


POMPEII 


SOCIAL  LIFE    AT  POMPEII 


53 


\ 


wedding  feast  was  then  held ,  after  which  the 
bride  and  bridegroom  retired  ,  and  the  guests, 
before  breaking  up,  joined  in  singing  an  «  epi- 
thalammm  >  or  bridal  song,  which  at  this  period 
was  often  of  an  objectionable  character. 

The  Romans  were  allowed  only  one  wife  at 
a  time,  and  divorce  was  very  common  among 
them.  The  divorce  of  such  persons  as  had  been 
married  by  con/arreatio  was  not  an  easy  matter, 
but  in  other  cases  a  wife  was  divorced  with  little 
or  no  difficulty;  the  usual  form  being  to  take  the 
keys  of  the  house  away  from  her,  and  to  turn 
her  out  of  doors. 

Infidelity,  drunkenness,  or  sorcery  seem  to  have 
been  the  usual  causes  of  divorce,  though  there 
are  many  cases  on  record  of  Roman  ladies  be- 
ing divorced,  only  because  they  had  not  borne 
children  to  their  husbands.  It  seems  probable 
that  when  a  dissolution  of  marria^^e  was  contem- 
plated,  a  domestic  trial  was  held  before  the  re- 
latives of  both  parties.  The  wife's  dowry  was 
usually  her  separate  property  ,  but  in  the  case 
of  a  divorce  it  was  dealt  with  according  to  the 
merits  of  the  particular  case. 

There  remains  yet  another  important  domestic 
ceremony  of  Roman  times  which  we  shall  not 
meet  with  in  our  studies  of  the  city  of  Pompeii, 
to  which  allusion  may  properly  be  made  here,  na- 


'O-^ 


mely  the  «  Coming  of  age  >  of  the  Roman  Youth. 
This  took  place  at  about  the  age  of  fifteen,  up 
to  w^hich  period  the  boys  of  Rome  wore  the 
<  toga  prcetexta  >  and  a  trinket  called  the  <  bulla 
patricia  >  round  their  necks.  The  name  of  the 
trinket  was  derived  from  the  Latin  word  <  bulla  > 
signifying  a  bubble,  which  was  the  shape  of  the 
object.  Tw^o  gold  bullce  and  one  of  carnelian  are 
exhibited  in  the  Naples  Museum.  Coming  of  age  / 
was  a  religious  ceremony  and  was  performed  in 
the  Forum.  Here  sacred  rites,  and  often  a  sacrifice 
were  held  to  celebrate  the  occasion;  the  boy  assu- 
med the  «  toga  virilis  >  and  the  bulla  of  childhood 
was  hung  up  with  the  household  gods  of  his 
parents.  A  small  statue  thought  to  be  Britannicus 
(Naples  Museum  No.  6229)  represents  him  with 
this  ornament  on  his  neck. 

It  will  be  advantageous  here  to  mention  the 
public  functionaries  of  the  town  whose  titles  ap- 
pear constantly  in  the  following  pages. 

The  yEdile  seems  to  have  occupied  very  much 
the  position  of  Mayor  of  the  town,  and  his  duties 
were  alike  multifarious  and  important.  The  in- 
scriptions show  that  the  ^diles  were  elected. 
€  Paratus  >,  says  one  of  these  instructive  docu- 
ments, <  asks  that  Pansa  be  made  ^dile  >,  an 
inscription  which  gave  its  name  to  the  so-called 
House  of  Pansa  at  Pompeii. 


y 


54 


POMPEII 


SOCIAL  LIFE   AT  POMPEII 


55 


The  duty  of  the  i^diles  was  to  act  as  Borough 
Magistrates  and  Commissioners  of  Police:  tiiey 
-  also   superintended   tiie   supply   of  provisions   to 
the  public,  and  were  responsible  for  the  conduct 
of  all  the  public  games.  They  had  further  to  see 
that  temples  and  public   buildings  were  kept  in 
proper  order,  and  that  private  houses  whose  con- 
dition was  dangerous  to  the  public  safety  should 
be  put  in  repair.   Their  powers  were  very  con- 
siderable, and    they  were    able  to  enforce    their 
orders   by   prosecution   and   fine.  Thus   in   times 
of  scarcity  the  ^dile  could  at  once  punish  any 
mdividual  who  was  hoarding  his  corn  in  hopes 
of  a  rise  in  the   price,  and  without   further  ado 
could  cause  the  hoard  to  be  issued  to  the  public. 
One  main  object  which  the  ^:dile   always  kept 
in  view    was  to  be  more    magnificent    than  his 
predecessor,  and  to  give  more  splendid  entertain- 
ments to  the  populace,  in  hopes   that  he  might 
secure  their  votes  when  he  became  a  candidate 
for  the    higher    offices  of  the    State.  Under  him 
^worked  the  Duumviri,  who  were  elected  annually 
from  the  townspeople.  We  learn  from  an  inscrip- 
tion thatit  Paquius  Proculus  who  was  a  baker  of 
the  city,  and  whose  portrait  is  in  the  Naples  Mu- 
seum (No.  9o58)  was  made  a  Duumvir  by  the 
Pompeians  on  account  of  his  popularity. 

The  Decuriones    were  the    Town    Council  of 


X 


i 


*« 

V 


<. 


Roman  times,  and  we  see  from  the  inscriptions 
in  the  Street  of  the  Tombs  that  it  was  they 
who  voted  posthumous  honours  to  departed  citi- 
zens, assigned  them  a  sepulchre  in  the  place  of 
honour,  and  ordered  a  statue  to  be  put  up  to  them 
in  the  Forum  after  their  decease.  These  memo- 
rial statues  formed  an  important  part  of  the  de- 
coration of  the  city,  and  though  many  of  them 
were  destroyed  by  the  earthquake  of  a.  d.  63, 
we  can  identify  the  site  of  more  than  one  of  them 
by  the  inscriptions  which  have  survived  to  us. 
To  judge  from  the  interesting  inscription  over 
the  door  of  the  Temple  of  I  sis  it  would  appear 
that   the  Decuriones  were   a  self-elected  body. 


CHAPTER   IV 


POMPEIAN   ART 


The  pitblic  buildings — Domestic  Architecture — The  mar- 
ble statuary —  The  bronze  statuary —  The  small  bro7izes — 
The  painting  a?td  mosaics — The  Jewelry — Gerns  and 
Terra-cot  fa. 

Ix  such  n  city  as  Pompc^ii  where  every  stone 
has  its  special  lesson  for  us,  it  is  obviously  dan- 
gerous to  generalise  ,  and  to  speak  in  groups 
of  buildings  which  differ  so  materially  in  period 
as  well  as  in  details.  The  only  safe  course  is 
to  take  the  city  stone  by  stone  ,  giving  a  fact 
here,  an  inference  there,  a  conjecture  further  on^ 
as  knowledge  and  circumstances  may  permit. 
Such  a  course  as  this  would  be  beyond  the  scope 
of  a  popular  work;  and  those  who  desire  to  enter 
into  such  minute  details  must  study  the  complete 
works  of  Dyer  in  English,  Overbeck  and  Mau 
in  German,  and  the  numerous  books,  papers,  and 


POMPEIAN  ART 


o/ 


\ 


|» 


.1 


; 


pamphlets  written  in  Italian  by  FiorelH,  Ruggiero, 
De  Petra  and  other  experts.  The  «  Bibliografia 
di  Pompei,  Ercolano  e  Stabia  >,  by  Mr.  Furchheim 
(Naples  1 891)  is  a  most  valuable  contribution  to 
the  literature  on  the  subject.  It  must  be  remembe- 
red that  new  discoveries  are  constantly  upsetting 
the  most  time-honoured  theories,  and  no  work 
however  elaborate  can  be  so  compiled  that  it  will 
not  get  out  of  date  in  the  course  of  a  short  time. 
For  our  own  part  we  can  do  no  more  tlian  accept 
what  appears  to  us  the  most  probable  solution  of 
contested  points  ,  and  w^e  desire  to  disclaim  all 
intention  of  <k  laying  down  the  law^  >  as  to  matters 
which  are  in  dispute  now,  and  will  probably  re- 
main doubtful  for  many  years,  and  perhaps  for 
ever.  This  disclaimer  on  our  part  is  extremely 
necessary  on  entering  upon  so  debatable  a 
question  as  that  of  Pompeian  art,  w^hich  we  take 
to  include  the  architecture,  public  and  domestic,  of 
the  citv;  the  statuary  both  marble  and  bronze- 
the  household  utensils,  and  the  decorative  paint- 
ing. We  shall  also  say  a  few  words  on  the  mosaics 
which  form  so  important  an  item  in  the  decoration 
of  the  city,  and  offer  observations  on  gems  and 
jew^elry,  terra-cotta  and  glass. 

Since  the  finest  specimens  of  art  found  in  the 
city  have  been  removed  to  the  Naples  Museum, 
w^e   shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  refer  to  those 


58 


POMPEII 


famous  collections,  and  recommend  our  readers 
to  make  themselves  acquainted  with  Mr.  Monaco's 
complete  <  Ha7idbook  to  the  Naples  Museum  > 
the  English  edition  of  which  we  have  edited  for 
him  for  several  years  past.  They  will  find  in  it 
accurate  descriptions  of  all  the  most  important 
specimens. 

We  must  further  premise  that  as  we  shall  enter 
into  detail  in  the  case  of  each  important  build- 
ing when  we  are  describing  it,  the  present  chapter 
will  be  merely  a  synopsis  of  the  matter,  and  is 
only  intended  to  give  a  general  idea  to  enable 
the  reader  to  understand  the  details  which  follow. 

The  Public  Buildings  of  Pompeii  ,  being  mostly 
of  the  Samnite  period  or  antecedent  to  it,  were 
originally  in  the  Doric  style,  though  the  temples 
of  Jupiter  and  of  Fortune  were  Corinthian,  and 
other  traces  of  Corinthian  art  and  many  composite 
pillars,  will  be  found  in  various  parts  of  the  town. 
In  rebuilding  the  city,  the  Romans  covered  the- 
Doric  pillars  with  stucco  and  converted  them  into- 
the  Ionic  style,  painting  them  over  with  designs, 
and  thus  spoiling  the  dignified  simplicity  of  the 
earlier  epoch. 

So-called  restorers  have  done  the  same  thing 
in  every  period;  and  the  Temple  restorers  of 
Pompeii  in  the  first  century  were  not  one  whit 
more  objectionable  than  some  Church  restorers  of 


POMPEIAN  ART 


59 


i» 


1  ■  k^K  V    * 


1 


Vm 


England  in  the  nineteenth.  Both  followed  the 
barbarous  fashion  of  an  age  of  decline;  both  sa- 
crificed dignity  to  unmeaning  ornament;  both 
leave  succeeding  generations  to  lament  over  their 
folly. 

The  Romans  were  strictly  an  imitative  people, 
.and  though  excellent  builders  they  rarely  dis- 
played any  originality.  The  great  difference  bet- 
ween their  architecture  and  that  of  the  Greeks, 
is  that  the  Romans  used  the  Arch  which  they 
had  learnt  from  the  Etruscans,  whereas  the  Greeks 
seem  not  to  have  known  it,  and  certainly  they 
had  no  word  in  their  language  to  express  it. 
The  temples  of  Pompeii  being  all  in  Greek  style 
are  built  without  arches  ,  but  in  the  Baths  we 
-find  the  ordinary  barrel  vault;  a  semicircular  arch 
running  the  whole  length  of  the  apartment  to  be 
covered,  and  simply  thrown  across  from  wall  to 
wall.  The  only  other  special  kind  of  building  we 
£nd  is  the  dome  which  occurs  in  some  of  the 
private  houses  and  also  in  the  Baths;  and  one 
or  two  instances  of  the  half-dome  or  apse  ,  of 
which  the  most  important  is  in  the  so-called 
Curia  Sefzatorum  in  the  Greater  Forum. 

The  Domestic  Architecture  of  Pompeii  is  interest- 
ing mainly  from  the  fact  that  it  is  in  a  transition 
style,  which  combines  almost  everything  that 
preceded  it,  and  contains  the  rudiments  of  every 


m 


POMPEII 


style  which  followed  it.   We  find  houses  with  a 
Samnite  doorway,   a   Doric  atrium,  an   Ionic  pe- 
ristyle,  an  arched  cellar,  and  a  mosaic  pavement. 
Indeed  everywhere  in  the  town   we  find  the  old 
jostling-  the  comparatively  new  ;  the  Roman  as- 
serting- his  dominion  over  the  work  of  the  Greek 
and  of  the  Samnite.   Thus  no  universal  rule  can 
be  laid  down  about  the  houses   of  Pompeii,   for 
they  contain  a  mixture  of  styles,  varying  accord- 
ing to  the  periods  when  their  several  parts  were 
altered   or  modified.   In  very  many  cases  the  fa- 
fades  are  very  ancient,  beino-  constructed  of  larcre 
blocks  of  stone  neatly  fitted  without  mortar.  Such 
houses  date  back  certainly  to  the  Samnite  times, 
and   may  even   have  been  built    by  the   Oscans. 
These  in  many  cases  were  covered  with   stucco 
by  the  Romans  ,  that  they    might  be  decorated 
with  sacred   serpents,  coloured  dados,  and  other 
devices  ;   and  in   one    case  an   Oscan   inscription 
was  found  upon  the  stone  underneath  the  Roman 
plaster.   Too  much  however  must    not  be  made 
of  this  incident ,   nor  can  it  be    taken  to    prove 
Oscan  building,  for  Oscan  continued  for  centuries 
to  be  the  language  of  the  lower  orders,  and,  as 
we  have  already  said,  the  comic  stage  used  this 
dialect  quite  down  into  Roman  times. 

We   shall   now  proceed  to  describe  ^a  Roman 
-house,  premising  that   there  were  five    kinds  of 


POMPEIAN  ART 


61 


•  Ir 


'li 


houses  in  Roman  times,  differing  mainly  accord- 
ing to  the  construction  of  the  Atrium  or  great  hall. 

Of  these  the  most  common  in  Pompeii  are  the. 
Tuscan  and  the  Corinthian,  of  which  the  former 
is  the  more  ancient ,  and  may  be  identified  by 
the  fact  of  there  being  no  pillars  in  the  Atrium, 
the  roofs  having  been  supported  by  beams,  with 
the  usual  rectangular  opening  called  a  Complii- 
vium  in  the  top  ,  to  allow  of  the  water  falling 
into  the  tmpluvmm  below.  Instances  of  this  mode 
of  construction  will  be  found  in  the  houses  of 
the  Faun,  of  the  Surgeon,  and  of  Pansa. 

The  Corinthian  Atrium  was  surrounded  by 
a  cloister  supported  on  columns  (not  necessarily 
Corinthian  in  style).  It  had  a  larger  Compluvium, 
and  we  may  suppose  that  it  was  here  that  the 
tight-rope  performances  were  held  to  amuse  the 
guests  of  the  wealthy  patricians.  We  learn  from 
the  frescos  that  the  Romans  had  curtains  to  draw 
across  these  openings  in  sunny  w^eather.  A  good 
example  of  a  Corinthian  Atrium  will  be  found 
in  the  House  of  the  Quaestor,  and  in  the  House 
of  the  Centenary. 

The  following  description  applies  more  or 
less  to  all  the  houses  of  Pompeii,  the  larger  ones 
containing  all  the  rooms  mentioned  ,  and  the 
smaller  ones  only  a  few  of  them. 

The  Ostium  (though  the  word   only  means    «  a 


62 


POMPEII 


POMPEIAN  ART 


63 


door  >)  was  the  term  used  for  the  entry,  a  narrow 
hall  leading  from  the  street  into  the  Atrmm, 
which  was  the  most  important  part  of  the  house, 
and  fitted  up  with  great  magnificence.  Here  the 
Roman  noble  received  his  clients,  for  every  lesser 
individual  in  Roman  times  had  a  patron  to  whom 
he  repaired  for  advice  and  assistance,  and  the 
morning  reception  by  a  Roman  patronus  ,  was 
one  of  the  most  important  events  of  his  usually 
idle  day.  Cicero  complains  bitterly  of  the  way 
his  valuable  time  was  taken  up  by  visitors  who 
came  to  consult  him;  and  indeed  before  the  law 
became  a  regular  profession,  the  patronus  used 
to  appear  in  Court  to  support  the  cause  of  his 
client,  and  even  to  plead  for  him  before  the 
Judge. 

Various  other  services  were  also  rendered  by 
the  patronus  to  the  client,  who  in  return  supported 
him  at  elections,  transacted  his  business  for  him, 
and  acted  generally  as  trusted  dependants. 

The  Tablinum  or  muniment  room  was  situated 
directly  opposite  to  the  front  door,  and  appears 
to  have  been  a  recess,  the  front  of  which  was 
veiled  by  a  curtain  in  summer  and  closed  by 
folding  doors  in  winter. 

The  Alae  were  similar  but  smaller  recesses,  to 
the  right  and  left  of  the  Tablinum,  from  which 
they  were  separated  by  the  Fauces,  The  rest  of 


0) 


I 


/  1 

1  / 


the  Atrium  was  surrounded  by  small  bedrooms 
for  the  gentlemen  of  the  family;  there  was  often 
a  door  from  it  leading  into  one  of  the  shops 
adjoining  the  chief  entrance;  and  frequently  in  the 
more  important  dwellings  a  door  into  the  next 
house,  which  was  used  as  a  guest-house  by  wealthy 
Romans  when  their  friends  came  to  stay  with  them. 

The  Fauces  were  narrow  passages  on  each  side 
of  the  Tablinum,  leading  from  the  Atrium  to 
the  Peristyle,  which  was  a  cloistered  enclosure 
like  the  atrium,  but  usually  much  larger  ,  and 
having  in  most  cases  a  garden  in  the  centre  of 
it.  Round  the  Peristyle  were  the  ladies'  bedrooms, 
and  beyond  it  frequently  another  garden  with  an 
outdoor    Triclinium, 

The  Triclinium  or  dining  room  ,  was  situated 
in  various  parts  of  the  house  according  to  the 
position  of  the  kitchens  and  offices,  but  usually 
in  the  peristyle. 

The  Exhedra  was  the  drawing-room  of  the  house 
and  occupied  the  same  position  in  the  peristyle 
as  the    Tablinum  did  in  the  Atrium, 

The  slaves  excepting  the  Janitor  or  porter, 
slept  upstairs.  The  porter's  lodge  was  usually  a 
room  (little  better  than  a  cupboard)  adjoining  the 
front  door;  but  scarcely  more  inconvenient  than 
the  ordinary  accommodation  provided  to  this  day 
in  Naples  for  domestics  of  the  same  class. 


.  1 


64 


POMPEII 


POMPEIAN  ART 


65 


There  is  (as  far  as  we  are  aware)  no  trace 
of  a  wooden  floor  in  Pompeii,  and  in  this  point 
again  the  ancient  Pompeii  closely  resembles  the 
modern  Naples.  Where  mosaics  were  not  used 
the  floors  were  of  concrete  irregularly  sprinkled 
with  fragments  of  tiles  and   marble. 

To  treat  of  the  ceilings  of  the  Pompeian  houses 
would  be  to  enter  into  a  labyrinth  of  conjecture,  as 
there  is  scarcely  a  single  one  standing  which  could 
be  safely  taken  as  a  guide.  Virgil  speaks  of  «  the 
lamps  hanging  from  the  gilded  rafters  >,  and  the 
vaulted  roofs  of  the  baths  of  Pompeii  were  pro- 
fusely decorated.  Whether  the  ceilings  of  the 
houses  were  so  or  not,  we  must  leave  our  readers 
to  conjecture.  Some  of  the  ceilings  of  the  lower 
story  of  the  house  of  Diomede  are  still  standing, 
but  as  they  are  vaulted  they  do  not  afford  a 
certain  criterion.  They  are  decorated  in  fresco 
like  the  walls,  and  if  the  Roman  ceilings  were 
of  plaster  they  were  of  course  susceptible  of 
similar  treatment. 

The  Statuary  of  Pompeii  is  inferior  in  point  of 
artistic  merit  to  that  of  Herculaneum. 

The  gallery  of  the  marble  masterpieces  in  the 
Naples  Museum  contains  only  three  specimens 
from  Pompeii  including  the  archaic  Diana  (No. 
6008),  which  we  believe  was  found  much  nearer 
to  Torre  dell'Annunziata  than  to   Pompeii.  The 


^M 


il 


Other  specimens  are  Pompey  the  Great,  (No.  6028) 
who  was  treacherously  murdered  at  Alexandria 
B.  c.  48.  His  connection  with  the  town  of  Pom- 
peii is  obscure,  unless  indeed  he  came  there  with 
Sulla  with  whom  he  was  on  terms  of  friendship 
before  he  became  his  rival.  The  third  represents 
Brutus  (No.  602 5).  This  is  a  very  perfect  bust 
with  a  most  repulsive  cast  of  countenance.  He 
committed  suicide  in  b.  c.  42,  and  is  best  known 
as  the   murderer  of  Caesar. 

The  Portico  of  the  Emperors  contains  only 
four  contributions  from  Pompeii,  which  comprise 
two  portraits  of  Livia,  wife  of  Augustus;  one  of 
Drusus,  the  brother  of  Tiberius,  and  one  which 
may  possibly  be  Augustus. 

The  Hall  of  the  Balbi  has  a  few  portrait  statues 
and  busts  from  Pompeii  ,  the  only  remarkable 
ones  being  those  of  Eumachia  (6232)  which  came 
from  the  Exchange,  and  that  of  Marcus  Holco- 
nius  Rufus  (6233)  which  bore  an  inscription  stat- 
ing that  «  he  had  been  five  times  Duumvir  and 
Magistrate,  twice  Quinquennalis,  a  Military  Tri- 
bune elected  by  the  people,  a  priest  of  Augustus, 
a  chief  of  the  colony  >.  It  would  be  useless  la- 
bour to  recapitulate  here  the  portrait  busts  and 
the  gods  and  goddesses  found  in  Pompeii  all  of 
which  are  of  the  Roman  period,  while  of  the 
basreliefs    the    only    one    which    claims    special 

5 


.«i 


n^i^-^.j-,1;  ..— —sa..  -..^  r^».t.^>.-..^£j|jg^|a^a«;jg;a;|||i^^ 


66 


POMPEII 


attention  is  No.  6687,  which  represents  a  comic 
scene  from  an  ancient  play,  and  is  particularly 
interesting. 

Plato  who  died  b.  c.  347  tells  us  that  in  his 
day  the  Greeks  coloured  their  statues,  and  we 
have  ocular  demonstration  that  the  Pompeians 
did  likewise,  but  Plato  lived  nearly  a  century  after 
the  great  period  of  art,  and  no  doubt  the  device 
was  then  used  only  by  inferior  artists.  It  w^ould 
be  almost  as  fair  to  argue  from  the  gaudy  mon- 
strosities of  the  Naples  Churches  that  modern 
Italians  were  in  the  habit  of  painting  marble 
statues!  To  say  that  the  extremes  met  in  sculp- 
ture, is  only  to  observe  what  has  always  occured 
in  the  history  of  all  the  arts.  It  is  often  difficult 
to  discriminate  between  the  rise  and  the  decline 
of  art,  for  like  nature  it  seems  to  have  a  second 
childhood,  and  the  faults  of  the  Archaic  period 
reappear  in  the  works  of  the  Decadence. 

The  Bronzes  from  Pompeii  are  nobly  represented 
by  the  statuette  of  the  Dancing  Faun,  which  is 
probably  the  finest  specimen  of  its  class  extant; 
and  the  other  statuettes  standino-  near  it  in  the 
same  hall  of  the  large  bronzes.  In  life  size 
work  in  bronze,  Pompeii  has  provided  us  with 
frightful  monstrosities,  though  we  must  except  the 
two  Apollos  (5629  and  5630)  of  which  the  latter 


>< 


H 
•i  '. 


i. 


«A  9 


i 


n 

■ 

t 

>   !■ 

/ 

>  ■ 

it 

1 

7 

! 

! 

POMPEIAN  ART 


67 


is  especially  interesting  on  account  of  its  strong- 
Etruscan  type.  The  gala  gladiatorial  armour  also 
came  from  Pompeii  and  is  extremely  elaborate 
in  design.  The  immense  collection  of  small 
bronzes  in  the  Museum ,  numbering  something 
like  eighteen  thousand  specimens  came  in  the  - 
main  from  the  excavations  of  Pompeii  ,  and  is 
replete  with  interest  from  the  point  of  view  of 
the  decorative  artist.  The  commonest  of  the 
kitchen  utensils  is  scrupulously  finished  and  ela- 
borately ornamented,  while  the  more  important 
objects  such  as  the  Isiac  laver,  and  some  of  the 
door  fittings,  display  excellent  taste  and  firstrate 
workmanship. 

The  Surgical  Instruments  show  us  how  good  was 
their  knowledge  of  anatomy,  and  how  well  they 
understood  the  various  functions  of  the  human 
body.  Many  of  these  instruments  reinvented 
in  subsequent  ages  ,  are  almost  identical  with 
those  used  in  the  present  day  by  our  ow^n  sur- 
geons. 

The  Mural  Paintings  of  Pompeii  are  perhaps  the 
most  interesting  of  all  its  relics.  These  were 
painted  upon  the  plaster  of  the  walls  while  it 
was  still  fresh  ,  and  thus  became  incorporated 
with  the  wall  itself  and  have  displayed  incredible 
durability.  Vitruvius  describes  most  carefully  how 
a  wall  should  be  prepared  in  order  that  it  should 


68 


POMPEII 


have  a  good  <  face  »  for  the  painter  ,  and  no 
doubt  his  precepts  were  carefully  followed  at 
Pompeii  where  we  find  walls  with  a  surface  like 
polished  marble.  We  can  dismiss  the  landscapes 
of  Pompeii  in  a  very  few  words,  for  that  style 
of  painting  was  not  in  favour  with  the  ancients 
and  they  used  it  merely  for  inferior  decoration. 
In  style  it  was  very  like  the  modern  Chinese. 
Lakes  and  bridges ,  colonnades  and  pagodas, 
with  boats,  trees,  and  statues  scattered  about; 
the  whole  being  drawn  in  atrocious  perspective, 
and  painted  in  gorgeous  colours. 

Their  ornament  however  was  quite  a  different 
affair  and  here  we  quote  Mr.  Poynter  R.  A. 
whose  judgment  on  such  a  matter  is  conclusive. 
In  a  lecture  delivered  at  the  South  Kensington 
Museum,  and  published  by  Macmillan  in  1882, 
he  says  : 

<c  The  fragments  (of  decorative  painting)  arranged  on 
a  wall  of  one  of  the  corridors  of  the  Naples  Museum 
display  an  art  of  design  and  a  skill  of  execution  which 
fully  justify  the  most  extravagant  estimate  which  is  re- 
corded of  Greek  artists.  In  certain  qualities  of  execution 
they  are  unrivalled  by  the  best  work  of  any  of  the  great 
schools  of  the  sixteenth  or  seventeenth  centuries.  Free- 
*^  dom  of  hand  and  certainty  of  touch  are  the  first  requisites 
of  decorative  painting  in  no  matter  what  style;  but  they 
are  combined  here  with  a  rich  quality  of  impasto  laid 
on  with  a  full  brush  (but  with  supreme  delicacy)   in  gra- 


POMPEIAN  ART 


G9 


4t 


1 

I 

t 


4    J 


!■-. 


lit 


^ 


dations  which  though  as  clean  as  mosaic  in  their  preci- 
sion, are  as  full  and  round  in  modelling  as  though  done 
by  Velasquez.  » 


^ 


«  Imagine  the  whole  decorations  of  a  room  carried  out 
with  the  artistic  perfection  of  these  details,  and  with  all 
the  beauty  of  surface  which  the  elaborately  prepared  stucco 
grounds  of  the  ancients  provided  for  their  artists,  and  you 
may  realise  for  yourselves  a  specimen  of  decorative  art, 
such  as  none  but  Greek  artists  have  ever  produced,  and 
such  as  in  our  hurried  world  is  not  likely  to  be  produced 
again.  ^ 

«  From  these  disconnected  fragments  I  have  gained  a 
more  certain  belief  in  the  surpassing  excellence  of  Greek 
painting  than  reading  or  imagination  or  analogy  could 
ever  have  supplied. 

I  do  not  know  that  there  are  engravings  of  these 
paintings,  but  if  there  are,  they  would  give  no  idea  of 
the  wonderful  execution  :  Giovanni  da  Udine  is  a  coarse 
dauber  by  comparison  ». 

There  is  nothing  for  us  to  add  to  the  admi- 
rable description  given  above  ;  indeed  we  might 
with  advantage  extract  every  word  which  Mr. 
Poynter  says  of  the  paintings  of  Pompeii.  We 
will  however  content  ourselves  with  one  more 
quotation. 

«  A  masterly  freedom  of  hand  is  a  marked  characte- 
ristic of  all  the  antique    decorative    painting    which  has 


70 


POMPEII 


come  down  to  us.  The  work,  although  very  highly  fin- 
ished, is  done  with  extreme  simplicity.  There  is  no  load- 
ing of  colour,  but  perfect  expression  of  touch,  and  every 
thing  appears  to  be  done  at  once  and  without  the  slightest 
effort.  Certainty  of  hand  and  executive  skill  held  as 
high  a  place  in  the  estimation  of  ancient  artists  as  the 
conception  of  the  subject,  or  its  composition  and  design. 
They  owe  their  freedom,  moreover,  to  the  fact  that  their 
art  was  a  vivid  and  vigorous  expression  of  their  impres- 
sions of  nature.  Nothing  is  more  remarkable  in  the 
Pompeian  painting,  even  when  by  an  inferior  hand,  than 
the  impression  it  conveys  of  a  fresh  and  healthy  life;  the 
creations  all  live,  the  gestures  are  spontaneous  and  na- 
tural ;   there  is  no  straining  after  emotions. 

In  this  sense,  the  very  finest  art  of  the  Italian  school 
m  no  way  approaches  the  antique,  because  it  is  not  in 
the  same  way  the  expression  of  life». 

One  point  that  the  pictures  of  Pompeii  show 
us  is  the  fixity  of  tenure  of  the  inhabitants  , 
for  a  man  would  scarcely  go  to  such  an 
expense  of  decoration  unless  he  were  the  owner 
or  had  a  long  lease  of  his  house;  for  he  could 
not  readily  take  his  pictures  away  with  him  if 
he  left  it,  and  new  decoration  involved  new  pla- 
sterinp-. 

The  Pompeian  Paintings  are  divided  into  regular 
classes  of  subjects.  There  are  first  the  single 
figures  which  were  merely  ideal,  painted  in  the 
centre  of  the  panels.  These  are  often   flying  fi- 


4^ 

4k 


Mir- 


POMPEIAN  ART 


71 


^»    • 


f# 


vi  * 


4  M}.  ft 


gures  with  exquisite  drapery  and  charming  at- 
titudes. The  finest  of  these  were  found  in  the 
House  of  FrUgi,  and  represented  dancing  girls 
and  Satyrs  on  the  tight-rope.  Then  we  must 
take  the  Mythological  pictures  ,  the  <  Sacred 
subjects  »  of  those  days  ,  which  were  for  the 
most  part  traditions  of  celebrated  pictures  of 
Greek  times.  The  heroic  pictures  follow  next 
in  order,  and  of  these  the  most  notable  instance 
is  that  of  the  House  of  the  Tracric  Poet,  whose 
wall-paintings  were  all  derived  from  the  Homeric 
poems,  and  are  now  in  the  Naples  Museum.  After 
these  follow  the  strictly  Roman  "pictures  which 
describe  scenes  of  every-day  life  in  Roman  times. 
The  more  important  of  these  have  been  trans- 
ferred to  the  Naples   Museum. 

The  actual  colours  used  by  the  Pompeian 
painters  may  be  seen  in  their  crude  state  in  the 
fresco  room  at  the  Naples  Museum.  These  differ 
in  no  respect  from  our  own  pigments,  and  were 
mixed  with  size,  with  white  of  egg,  and  sometimes 
with  wax.  It  seems  to  us  more  probable  that 
in  the  case  of  wall  paintings  the  wax  was  me- 
rely applied  over  the  picture  as  we  now  apply 
varnish,  though  in  the  case  of  easel  paintings 
where  the  body  to  be  painted  could  easily  have 
been  kept  warm,  wax  was  probably  used  as  a 
direct  medium.   The  colours  were  of  two  classes, 


72 


POMPEII 


bright  and  flat,  the  former  being  called  by  Pliny 
floridi,  the  latter  austeri.  The  bright  colours 
being  the  more  costly  were  provided  by  the 
employer,  the  others  by  the  artist.  They  required 
special  manipulation,  and  are  hence  called  artifi- 
cial both  by  Pliny  and  Vitruvius,  in  opposition 
to  the  natural  colours  which  were  derived  di- 
rectly from  the  earth. 

V-  The  Art  of  Mosaic  was  derived  directly  from 
painting,  and  no  doubt  most  of  the  important 
mosaics  were  copies  of  paintings.  This  art  ap- 
pears to  have  been  introduced  from  Greece  or 
Asia  Minor  in  the  first  century  b.  c.  and  to 
have  spread  widely  over  the  Roman  world,  for 
we  find  Roman  mosaics  in  England  and  at  Malta 
as  well  as  in  Italy.  The  pictures  were  executed 
with  small   cubes  of  marble  and  glass,  where  a 

"  variety  of  colouring  was  attempted,  or  in  black 
on  white  for  ordinary  purposes.  All  the  best 
Pompeian  mosaics  have  been  removed  to  Na- 
ples, but  there  are  still  some  very  gay  mosaic 
fountains  in  various  parts  of  Pompeii. 

Although  the  jewelry  and  engraved  gems  of 
Pompeii  partook  of  the  general  decline,  and  are 
not  comparable  with  the  specimens  of  earlier 
Greek  art  exhibited  in  the  same  room  with  them 
in  the  Museum,  they  cannot  fail  to  interest  the 
intelligent  observer. 


1 
<» 


*i 


4f 


ii 


POMPEIAN  ART 


7:^ 


^>    > 


'» 


f*    4 


^•t 


e    '-■♦ 


1  I 


The  long  gold  chain  with  gold  wheels  at  stated 
intervals  which  was  found  in  the  House  of  the 
Faun,  and  seems  likely  to  have  been  an  official 
ornament,  is  of  unexampled  magnificence,  and 
the  massive  gold  armlets  of  serpentine  design, 
weighing  two  pounds,  found  in  the  same  house, 
no  doubt  decorated  the  lovely  arms  of  some 
Pompeian  beauty. 

They  remind  us  of  Haidee's  bracelets  which 
Byron  thus  describes: 

One  large  gold  bracelet  clasped  each  lovely  arm 
Lockless — so  pliable  from   the  pure  gold 
That  the  hand  stretched  and   shut  it  without  harm 
The  limb  which   it  adorned  its  only  mould. 

Don  Juan,    Canfo  III,  71. 

Of  the  engraved  gems  of  Pompeii  the  reader 
can  judge  for  himself  if  he  is  able  to  visit  the 
Naples  Museum  They,  generally  speaking,  par- 
took of  the  universal  decadence,  and  especially 
so  for  the  reason  that  locks  and  keys  were  ra- 
pidly coming  into  use.  In  more  ancient  times 
every  cupboard  was  secured  by  a  seal  if  it  con- 
tained objects  of  value.  In  Roman  times  important 
documents  were  sealed,  but  keys  had  superseded 
seals  for  domestic  purposes.  The  Romans,  mo- 
reover, had  invented  signet  rings,   whereas  the 


74 


POMPEII 


Greeks  wore  their  signets  upon  their  wrists  ac- 
cording to  Eastern  usage.  The  signet  of  the 
Bible  is  always  spoken  of  as  being  on  the  <  hand  > 
and  not  upon  the  finger,  and  when  the  Amalekite 
spoiled  the  body  of  Saul,  he  brought  David  the 
<  bracelet  that  was  upon  his  arm  »  for  the  sole 
reason  that  it  bore  the  Royal  signet,  the  un- 
questionable emblem  of  the  kingly  power. 
^  With  regard  to  the  glass  of  Pompeii  we  ob- 
serve that  it  was  in  common  use.  Many  windows 
were  glazed,  and  much  of  the  ordinary  household 
ware  was  made  of  glass,  but  with  one  or  two 
exceptions  (such  as  the  well-known  cinerary  urn 
No.  1 352 1  in  the  Naples  Museum),  no  specimens 
of  special  importance  have  been  discovered  in 
Pompeii.  It  is  in  the  nature  of  things  that  fine 
glass  should  have  been  broken,  and  that  inferior 
and  coarser  specimens  should  have  survived  to 
us;  but  even  this  will  not  account  for  the  de- 
cadence of  the  art  and  the  unquestioned  supe- 
'^riority  of  the  Greeks  over  the  Romans  in  this 
branch  of  manufacture. 

Terra-cotta  was  a  favourite  material  of  Roman 
times,  and  though  easily  broken  it  has  the  merit 
of  being  practically  indestructible,  and  hence  it 
is  most  valuable  to  the  antiquarian  in  enabling 
him  to  define  the  various  stages  of  primitive 
culture.  The  Romans  adopted  it  for  every  kind 


i' 


41 


« 


U 


*> 


POMPEIAN  ART 


^■)    0 


4- 

III 

f 


i 


I 


;?!■ 


of  domestic  purpose.  Their  dinner  services  were 
made  of  it,  they  used  it  for  lamps,  stoves,  jars 
and  cinerary  urns:  we  have  a  dovecot  made  of 
it;  and  like  the  modern  Neapolitans,  they  made 
money-boxes  of  the  same  material.  It  was  also 
a  favourite  material  for  childrens'toys,  and  the 
walls  of  the  Roman  temples  were  hung  with 
terra-cotta  emblems  of  various  parts  of  the  hu- 
man body,  which  had  been  cured  from  sundry 
diseases  by  vows  made  to  the  shrine  invoked. 
It  is  indeed  a  singular  instance  of  a  pagan  sur- 
vival to  enter  a  Neapolitan  church  and  to  see 
similar  objects  made  (as  if  from  the  same  moulds) 
in  wax  and  silver,  dedicated  to  the  Madonna 
of  the  shrine  just  as  the  Romans  dedicated  iden- 
tical offerings  to  the  Diana  Tifatina  or  to  the 
Venus  Ponipeia7ia. 

Before  concluding  this  part  of  our  subject  it 
is  necessary  to  impress  upon  our  readers  that 
as  far  as  we  know  now,  (and  our  knowledge  is  suf- 
ficiently mature  to  make  us  tolerably  certain) 
the  Art  of  Pompeii  w^as  a  long  way  behind  that 
of  Herculaneum.  Visitors  are  too  apt  to  come 
to  the  conclusion  that  because  Pompeii  is  the 
more  interesting  city  to  them,  that  therefore  it 
is  the  more  important  in  itself;  and  they  are 
apt  to  mass  the  collections  in  the  Museum  as 
coming  from    Pompeii,   whereas   in  fact    nearly 


76 


POMPEII 


v^, 


all  the  best  things  there  came  from  Herculaneum; 
the  truth  being  that  the  excavations  of  the  latter 
city  which  produced  the  large  Bronzes,  the  prin- 
cipal statues,  and  all  the  great  finds  of  silver, 
were  filled  up  again  a  hundred  years  ago.  Her- 
culaneum was  a  larger  ,  richer ,  and  finer  city 
than  Pompeii ,  and  we  must  reckon  it  an  un- 
fortunate accident  that  the  wealthier  city  should 
be  so  difficult  of  excavation,  that  we  are  com- 
pelled to  be  content  to  expend  our  energies  upon 
the  poorer  one. 


^ 


I 


V 


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CHAPTER  V 

THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII 

The  Management  of  Pompeii — The  Guides — Methods  of 
Excavation  —  The  Approach  to  Pompeii  —  The  ^ea 
Gate —  The  Shrine  of  Minerva —  The  Gold  Lamp —  The 
Local  Museum:  i.  Lobby — 2.  Gallery—^,  Bronze  Room, 

\A/ E  are  now  in  a  position  to  take  a  practical 
survey  of  Pompeii,  and  if  our  readers  have  made 
the  journey  by  train  (which  is  far  the  more 
convenient  way)  they  will  find  themselves  on 
arriving  at  the  Pompeii  station,  within  three  hun- 
dred yards  of  the  entrance  to  the  excavations: 
or  if  they  should  have  taken  one  of  the  trains 
on  the  Castellammare  line  they  will  get  out  at 
Torre  deirAnnunziata  Centrale,  which  is  about 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  from  the  ruins.  In  either 
case  they  will  take  their  ticket  at  the  gate,  and 
pass  through  the  turnstile  accompanied  by  a  Gov- 
ernment Guide. 


^.■l.*IM«S.|l-SA-,  .■^i*..--.-;«.~J:ua,..U...i|j,ia|ajj 


78 


POiMPEII 


I 


The  excavations  and  management  of  Pompeii 
are  completely  under  the  control  of  the  Govern- 
ment, the  central  authority  being  the  Minister 
of  Public  Instruction  in  Rome  ,  the  excavation 
department  being  presided  over  by  a  director 
who  has  succeded  the  late  illustrious  veteran 
Senator  Fiorelli ,  justly  called  the  «  Father 
of  Pompeii  »  for  it  is  to  his  incentive  that 
the  careful  conduct  of  the  excavations  has  been 
due  for  nearly  thirty  years;  and  it  is  mainly 
owing  to  his  organisation  that  the  ruins  are  kept 
up  in  a  condition  which  is  a  credit  alike  to  the 
Italian  Government,  and  to  the  responsible  of- 
ficials. * 

The  expense  of  keeping  up  Pompeii  in  first 
rate  order  is  of  course  very  considerable  ,  as 
the  city  must  be  watched  by  night  as  well  as 
by  day,  and  this  combined  with  the  duty  of 
providing  guides  to  accompany  the  twenty  thou- 

*  It  will  not  be  out  of  place  to  mention  here  that 
excavations  by  private  persons  are  not  permitted  in  any 
site  reserved  by  the  Government  for  National  excavations. 
In  places  not  so  reserved,  excavating  rights  may  be  pur- 
chased from  the  owners  of  the  soil,  but  notice  must  be 
given  to  the  Government  who  appoint  an  Inspector  of 
their  own,  and  make  conditions  with  the  person  apply- 
ing for  a  license  which  involve  him  in  giving  the  Gov- 
ernment a  prior  right  of  purchase,  if  he  desires  to  sell 
the  objects  discovered. 


\ 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII   79 


sand  visitors  who  annually  resort  to  the  ruins, 
necessitates  a  large  and  intelligent  staff.  It  would 
be  difficult  to  find  a  body  of  men  better  suited 
to  their  work  than  the  extremely  civil  and  com- 
petent employes  who  exercise  their  somewhat 
monotonous  duties  at  Pompeii. 

The  same  staff  also  provides  guides  for  Her- 
culaneum,  Paestum,  and  the  other  neighbouring 
antiquities  which  are  under  Government  control, 
and  as  these  are  open  to  the  public  the  whole 
year  round,  their  duties  are    sufficiently  heavy. 

Before  the  establishment  of  a  railway  station 
at  Pompeii  the  entrance  to  the  ruins  was  near 
the  House  of  Diomede  at  the  extreme  end  of 
the  Street  of  the  Tombs.  The  present  entrance 
is  much  more  convenient,  as  by  it  we  reach  at 
once  the  very  heart  of  the  city,  the  very  centre 
from   which  all  its  life   radiated. 

In  the  early  days  unfortunately,  the  excava- 
tors were  content  to  deposit  the  refuse  of  the 
excavations  outside  the  walls  of  the  town,  and 
did  not  think  it  necessary  to  remove  it  to  a 
greater  distance.  Their  mechanical  appliances 
were  not  so  perfect  as  ours;  tramways  were 
practically  unknown,  and  the  disposal  of  the  re- 
fuse was  consequently  a  great  and  ever-increasing 
difficulty.  The  result  of  this  often  was  that 
buildings  were  excavated,   ransacked   and    filled 


^ 


1 1 


80 


POMPEII 


\ 


Up  again.  We  have  shown  how  this  was  done 
at  Herculaneum,  and  the  same  thing  occurred 
in  more  than  one  instance  at  Pompeii ,  where 
the  important  House  of  Cicero  or  Frugi  has 
been  reburied ;  and  several  other  features  of 
interest  have  shared  the  same  fate.  This  of  course 
was  in  the  days  when  casual  excavations  were 
made  in  a  haphazard  way  at  the  will  and  plea- 
sure of  the  King,  or  indeed  almost  of  the  first 
comer  if  he  had  a  little  Court  favour  or  influence. 
This  is  at  an  end  now;  but  the  present  method 
of  excavation  was  not  arrived  at  all  at  once. 
The  first  plan  which  was  attempted  was  to  clear 
out  a  street,  and  then  proceed  house  by  house 
down  it.  It  was  found  that  this  was  not  the  best 
method  of  procedure,  because  by  this  means  the 
crush  of  the  material  inside  the  house  forced 
out  the  front  walls,  and  often  injured  the  paint- 
ings on  them ;  sometimes  even  causing  the  fall 
of  the  wall  itself.  The  present  plan  was  accord- 
ingly adopted,  and  by  this  system  the  whole  of 
a  house  is  as  it  were  skimmed  off  in  layers, 
the  tramway  being  led  up  to  the  spot,  and  the 
trucks  filled  by  the  workmen.  The  tramway  lines 
are  laid  on  a  slope,  so  that  the  refuse  is  car- 
ried away  by  its  own  weight ,  and  the  truck 
being  self-tipping,  deposits  the  soil  away  down 
by  the  amphitheatre,  and  by  this  simple  process 


1/ 


'    ^ 


=-{ 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII  81 


continues  to  form  its  own  line  of  embankment 
which  will  be  prolonged  in  an  easterly  direction 
as  long  as  the  excavations  continue.  The  day 
may  come  when  the  accumulation  of  rubbish 
outside  the  Sea  Gate  will  be  cleared  away,  and 
the  surroundings  of  that  structure  laid  open  to 
our  study;  but  while  so  much  of  direct  interest 
remains  to  be  done,  a  mere  fancy  improvement 
is  not  likely  to  be  undertaken. 

In  going  over  the  city  the  reader  will  not  fail 
to  notice  that  many  of  the  rooms  are  excavated 
only  to  within  about  three  feet  of  the  floor,  the 
doorway  being  banked  up  with  large  stones.  The 
reason  of  this  proceeding  is,  that  as  from  the 
nature  of  things  whatever  is  in  a  Pompeian 
room  is  always  on  the  floor  of  it,  these  half- 
excavated  rooms  retain  all  their  valuables  still 
safely  buried  beneath  some  three  feet  of  soil. 
To  clear  out  these  is  therefore  a  matter  requir- 
ing only  about  an  hour's  labour,  and  they  are 
accordingly  reserved  for  persons  having  orders 
for  a  private  excavation.  Such  orders  are  custo- 
marily only  granted  to  distinguished  personages, 
after  whom  in  many  cases  the  house  has  been 
called. 

The  names  of  the  houses  are  derived  either 
from  outside  sources  as  in  this  instance,  or  from 
some  inscription  or  work  of  art  found  in  them. 

6 


82 


POMPEII 


This  is  naturally  somewhat  confusing  at  first , 
but  it  is  simpler  than  the  scientific  numeration. 
Thus  for  example  the  well-known  House  of  the 
Tragic  Poet  is  officially  described  as  Regio  VI 
Insula  VIII  No.  5,  a  description  which  is  beyond 
the   mnemonic  powers  of  ordinary   mortals. 

Although  our  description  of  the  Sea  Gate 
should  perhaps  more  properly  form  part  of  the 
chapter  we  propose  to  devote  to  the  w^alls  and 
gates  of  the  city,  we  insert  it  here,  because  it 
is  the  first  object  that  meets  the  traveller's  eye 
when  he  enters  the  city,  and  in  the  case  of 
many  visitors  the  only  one  of  the  eight  gates 
they  see  at  all,  though  most  people  get  as  far 
as  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum  ,  which  leads  out 
to  the  Street  of  the  Tombs. 

Owing  to  the  steepness  of  the  declivity  on 
this  side  of  the  town,  there  w^as  no  gate  into 
the  city  between  these  two,  and  the  wall  bet- 
ween them  has  apparently  been  destroyed.  This, 
as  we  have  said,  w^as  probably  done  after  the 
siege  of  Sulla  w^hen  Pompeii  was  finally  made 
an  open  town.  Nor  was  there  any  gate  between 
that  of  the  Sea  and  the  Gate  of  Stabiae  ,  for 
the  reason  that  this  part  of  the  city  stood  so 
much  above  the  plain  beneath  it. 

The  Sea  Gate  of  Pompeii ,  was  discovered    about 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII  83 


f^ 


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1817,  and  spanned  the  only  road  which  led  out 
on  the  western  side  of  the  town.  The  gradient 
of  it  is  so  steep  that  it  seems  unlikdy  that  it; 
was  used  for  vehicular  traffic ;  and  as  there  are 
no  ruts  in  the  pavement,  it  is, improbable  that 
carts  passed  either  up  or  down  it.  It  is  obvious 
that  to  drive  a  loaded  cart  up  it  would  be  a 
difficult  matter,  and  that  to  drive  one  down  would 
necessitate  the  use  of  a  powerful  drag,  which 
must  infallibly  have  left  traces  upon  the  pave- 
ment. The  number  of  important  warehouses  on 
the  western  side  of  the  city,  led  former  writers 
to  suppose  that  the  sea  came  so  close  to  the 
walls  that  ships  could  be  unladen  on  the  very 
spot.  This  has  proved  to  be  a  fallacy  ,  but  as 
the  fact  remains  that  a  great  part,  (and  probably 
the  greatest  part)  of  the  grain  brought  to  Pom- 
peii was  water-borne,  and  that  the  warehouses 
were  situated  at  this  end  of  the  town,  we  are 
driven  to  the  probable  conclusion  that  sumpter 
mules  were  used  to  convey  it  from  the  port  to  the 
city,  and  that  these  passed  through  the  Sea  Gate. 
This  would  account  for  a  footway  being  made, 
as  well  as  a  w^der  road,  and  we  may  infer  that 
the  mule  trains  were  constantly  passing  up  the 
latter,  while  the  former  was  devoted  to  the  use 
of  the  citizens.  A  villa  stood  withoutjiiis  gate^ 
but  hardly  any  traces  of  it  are   now  visible. 


I 


B3ji»M«itiiiiiiat!dai«iJMaai*«i>aaiii^^  ^^i-i.....-.--.^.i  j^  ....i;.  j—mt,;— ■»<.'v^a..-.4^. 


84 


POMPEII 


On  the  left  of  the  Gate  is  a  small  brick  seat 
over  which  some  indolent  Pompeian  had  scribbled 
the  name  of  a  lady  called  <  Attica  »  with   some 
lines  after  it  which   show    that    she    was   better 
known  than  respected  in  the  city.  On  the  right 
is  a  shrine  in  which  the  remains  of  a  terra-cotta 
statue  of  Minerva  were  discovered,  and  it  seems 
probable  that  she  was    the  tutelary  goddess  of 
the  city  gates.    Near   this    shrine  the    splendid 
gold  lamp  now  in  the  Naples  Museum  was  found, 
and  its  vicinity  to  the   shrine  led    some    of  the 
earlier  writers  to  suppose  that  it  was  a  votive 
offering  to  the  goddess.  This  conjecture  is  most 
improbable,  for  we  cannot  conceive  so  valuable  an 
object  left  open  to  the  predatory  instincts  of  the 
populace.  Moreover,  the  lamp  (though  otherwise 
perfect)  has  lost  its  lid,  and  the  natural  inference 
seems  to  be  that  it  was  dropped    by  some  re- 
fugee in  his  flight   and   that    when  he    reached 
the  ships  and  made  good  his  escape,   he  found 
that  the  lid  alone  of  his  lamp  (by  which  he  had 
carried  it)  remained   in  his  possession,  the  hinge 
having  given  way  and  deposited  the  body  of  the 
lamp  upon  the  road. 

The  Gate  itself  is  a  remarkable  structure,  and 
its  details  have  been  very  considerably  altered 
since  it  was  originally  built.  It  had,  as  we  have 
said,  two   passages:   the   one   paved   for   mules, 


#» 


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I  #» 


*     ¥ 


%\ 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII  85 

the  other  macadamised  for  foot  passengers.  What 
its  original  form  was  we  can  only  judge  from 
a  comparison  of  the  walls  of  Pompeii  with  other 
walls  of  the  same  period,  and  this  would  lead 
us  to  conclude  that  it  was  much  narrower,  and 
had  a  pointed  arch  made  of  large  blocks  of  stone. 
The  present  barrel  arch  is  Roman  ,  and  origi- 
nally ran  right  through  at  the  same  width,  being 
divided  longitudinally  by  the  low  rampart  of  the 
footway,  which  then,  as  now,  commenced  by  nine 
irregular  steps  leading  to  a  plateau  in  the  middle 
of  the  wall.  Here  the  footway  now  comes  to  an 
abrupt  conclusion,  half  the  archway  being  closed 
by  a   most  unsatisfactory  rubble  wall. 

An  inspection  of  the  causeway  in  front  of 
houses  Nos.  i  and  2  at  the  top  of  the  gate, 
leads  us  to  infer  that  it  was  reached  by  a 
flight  of  steps  from  the  footway  below  ,  and 
indeed  the  upper  step  is  still  in  its  place  across 
the  causeway.  The  removal  of  a  very  little  soil 
would  probably  disclose  other  steps  and  put  the 
matter  beyond  doubt.  If  our  conjecture  is  correct, 
it  would  prove  Professor  Fiorelli  to  be  right  in 
his  statement  that  the  house  No.  i.  was  a  late 
addition;  a  statement  which  is  fully  borne  out 
by  the  style  in  which  it  is  erected. 

At  the  outer  end  of  the  gateway  the  mule-path 
was  closed  by  two  wooden  doors,  and  the  foot- 


86 


POMPEII 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII   87 


path  by  an  iron  grating.  The  walls  of  the  passage 
were  covered  with  valueless  inscriptions,  one  of 
which  was  a  caricature  of  a  man  named  Victor, 
drawn  in  charcoal  and  accompanied  by  a  derisive 
inscription.  About  half  way  up  the  vaulted  pas- 
sage was  a  long  narrow  store-house  constructed 
in  the  thickness  of  the  city  wall.  This  has  now 
been  fitted  up  as  a  Museum  ,  and  is  used  to 
exhibit  such  articles  as  for  divers  reasons  it  is 
not  considered  expedient  to  remove  to  Naples. 

We  very  much  hope  that  the  Authorities  at 
Pompeii  may  some  day  see  their  w^ay  to  increase 
the  Museum  accommodation  provided  on  the  spot. 

We  think  also  that  in  the  interest  of  the 
vast  concourse  of  uninstructed  visitors,  it  would 
be  very  desirable  to  rebuild  the  whole  of  one 
of  the  many  available  Pompeian  houses,  decorate 
it  carefully ,  and  furnish  it  with  some  of  the 
thousand  duplicate  specimens  which  are  now 
stored  away  for  want  of  room  to  exhibit  them  in. 
The  uninitiated  would  thus  acquire  a  knowledge 
pf  a  Roman  dwelling  such  as  they  cannot  now^ 
obtain  w^ithout  long  and  careful  study.  We  feel 
sure  that  a  visit  to  such  a  house  would  be  at 
once  the  most  popular  and  the  most  instructive 
part  of  a  day  at  Pompeii,  and  a  small  additional 
fee  would  soon  cover  the  expense. 


i' 


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1 


► 


I 


i   i 


The  Museum  of  Pompeii  is  a  long  narrow  corridor 
divided  into  three  parts,  which  we  may  name  (i) 
the  Lobby,  (2)  the  Gallery,  and  (3)  the  Bronze 
Room.  The  most  important  specimens  in  it  are 
the  plaster  casts  of  objects  found  in  the  ashes 
which  enveloped  the  town ;  and  before  proceed- 
ing to  describe  the  specimens  in  the  Museum, 
we  \\\\\  endeavour  to  explain  how^  these  plaster 
casts  are  obtained. 

It  will  be  observed  that  they  consist  of  doors 
and  other  perishable  objects,  as  well  as  of  human 
bodies.  These  objects,  animate  as  well  as  inanimate, 
fell  in  the  ash  and  were  completely  covered 
bv  it.  The  ash  w^as  as  fine  or  even  finer  than 
ordinary  domestic  dust,  and  consequently  enve- 
loped the  substances  completely.  It  will  readily 
be  understood  that  it  made  an  equal  pressure 
all  round  them,  and  that  they  w^ere  consequently 
almost  as  completely  surrounded  as  if  they  had 
been  immersed  in  water.  The  great  weight  which 
snbsequently  fell  upon  the  upper  surface  of  this 
ash,  scarcely  disturbed  the  objects  buried  in  it 
for  it  fell  by  degrees  and  uniformly  over  the 
entire  surface. 

The  substances  buried  consequently  made  an 
exact  mould  of  their  forms  in  the  ash,  just  as 
an  object  buried  in  a  snowdrift  makes  an  exact 
mould  in  the  snow.  This  is  a  natural  phenomenon 


lilBttaiidaMaiSafijafaiiiiii^Matojiaariiri^^  ,  ■  ■•--  irriMaiiaiBaBiiJaiiMiMiiiMiim 


88 


POMPEII 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MTJSEUM  Of-  POMPEfl  8'J 


which  most  people  are  acquainted  with,  and 
nothing  could  give  a  more  accurate  idea  of  the 
process  we  are  explaining. 

If  the    reader  has    followed    us    thus  far,  he 
will   readily  understand  that  all  that  was  peris- 
hable in  the  substances  buried,  perished  in   the 
lapse  of  centuries.   That  is    to    say,   the  clothes 
and    flesh    of    the    victims ,    the    woodwork    of 
doors  ,   and  the  willows   of   basket    work  ,  have 
all   completely  vanished  ;    but    the    imperishable 
parts    remained,   namely    the    iron    and    bronze 
work  of  the  doors,  and  the  bones  and  ornaments 
of    the    human    subjects.     These    all    remained 
exactly  in  the  place  where  they  fell;   and  more 
than  this,   they  held  their  original   places  in  an 
accurate    mould    which    the    falling    ash    made 
around  them.   Consequently  when  the  excavators 
come  upon  a  cavity,  they  pour  liquid  plaster  of 
Paris  into  it,   and  having  left  it  time  to  harden, 
they    remove    the  external    ash   and    obtain  an 
exact  cast  of  the  object;  all  that  was  perishable 
being  now   replaced  by  plaster  of  Paris,   and  all 
that  was  imperishable  being  firmly  fixed  in  the 
plaster,   and  in  its  original  place. 

We  now  proceed  to  note  the  principal  objects 
of  interest  in  this  little   Museum. 


1 


«> 


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1 


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■A 

I" 

I 


i 


The  Lobby 

In  the  centre:  Model  of  a  Roman  window- 
grating  set  up  with  its  shutter  hung  by  hinges 
from  the  top. 

In  glass  Cases:  Specimens  af  ancient  canvas 
and  a  model  of  a  Roman  lock  carefully  copied 
from  a  Pompeian  original. 

Against  THE  left  wall:  Model  of  a  Pompeian 
wooden  cupboard,  with  locker  below.  The  plaster 
casts  of  the  sides  of  it  (taken  by  the  process 
we  have  described)  from  which  the  model  was 
made,   will  be  observed  on  the  wall. 

WiTHL\  ax  iron  railing:  An  iron  capstan 
(woodwork  modern).  A  large  iron  safe,  or  deed 
box.  In  front  of  this  safe  is  a  plaster  cast  of  a 
Roman  basket,  precisely  similar  to  those  now 
used  by  the  modern  excavators.  In  the  corner 
is  a  model  of  a  Roman  door.  The  tires  and 
hobs  of  two  wheels  ,  as  well  as  one  complete 
wheel  will  be  observed  on  the  South  wall;  and 
on  the  other  walls  some  plaster  casts  of  ancient 
woodwork  and  a  few  fragments  of  Roman  in- 
scriptions. 

The  Gallery 

Casts  of  bodies:  The  levels  at  which  the  bodies 
were  discovered  vary,  but  they  may  be  said  to 


9() 


POMPEII 


average  nine  feet  from  the  level  of  the  street. 
They  were  all  found  in  the  ashes ,  never  of 
course  in  the  pumice.  It  will  be  observed  in  the 
plaster  of  the  lower  part  of  the  second  body- 
that  there  are  marks  of  pumice  upon  it,  and  from 
this  w^e  ar^ue  that  the  victims  remained  in  their 
houses  till  the  rain  of  pumice  ceased,  and  were 
driven  out  of  them  when  the  shower  of  ashes 
began.   They  then  fell  and  were  smothered. 

1.  A  middle-aged  Roman  lying  on  his  back. 
This  is  one  of  the  sharpest  of  the  casts.  He 
seems  to  have  died   peacefully. 

2.  Cast  of  the  body  of  a  slave,  apparently  a 
North  African.  The  nose  and  lips  are  decidedly 
of  the  negro  type,  and  the  imprint  of  the  w^ooUy 
hair  can  be  readily  seen  near  the  right  ear.  The 
folds  of  his  clothes  have  come  out  with  re- 
markable clearness.  At  his  side  is  an  iron  in- 
strument shaped  like  a  walking-stick,  but  having 
a  pivot  in  the  middle,  which  makes  us  think 
that  it  was  a  part  of  the  apparatus  for  closing 
a  large  door. 

3.  This  cast  is  also  of  a  man,  and  probably 
of  a  slave,  from  the  low^  type  of  his  face  and 
his  receding  forehead.  If  the  raised  band  encircling 
his  body  is  a  belt,  it  would  be  a  further  indi- 
cation of  his  servile  condition.  The  riorht  hand 
is  firmly  clasped  and  the  expression  of  the  mouth 


(» 


\ 


i 


i 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII  91 

is  one  of  extreme  agony.    The   left   hand  is  on 
the  belt,  and  the  legs  are  extended. 

4.  Cast  of  a  dog  found  tied  to  his  kennel, 
behind  the  door  of  the  house  of  Vesonius  Pri- 
mus. The  poor  brute  had  contrived  to  mount 
upon  the  falling  ashes  till  the  length  of  his  chain 
prevented  his  getting  any  further,  w^hen  he  died 
on  his  back  in  great  agony. 

5.  Cast  of  a  man  who  wore  trousers  ;  very 
likely  an   Egyptian. 

6.  A  male  body  much  less  perfect  than  the 
others.  The  left  hand  has  made  an  admirable 
cast,  and  had  an  iron  ring  on  the  little  finger. 
The  face  is  of  a  man  of  fifty.  He  wore  a 
moustache,  but'  otherwise  w^as  clean   shaven. 

7.  The  next  cast  stands  over  a  staircase  to 
allow  of  its  being  examined  from  below  as  w^ell 
as  from  above.  It  is  the  figure  of  a  young  girl, 
and  is  the  most  pathetic  of  all  the  casts  in  the 
collection.  Her  hair  is  gathered  in  a  knot  upon 
the  top  of  her  head,  and  her  left  hand  seems 
in  the  act  of  brushing  the  ashes  away  from  her 
mouth,  while  her  right  arm  supports  her  fore- 
head. She  appears  to  have  drawn  her  clothes 
up  round  her  neck.  That  she  j  was  young  is 
certain,  but  the  size  of  her  hands  and  the  absence 
of  any  jewelry,  lead  us  to  think  that  she  did 
not  belong  to  the  wealthier  classes. 


!t-^»itsAL.  ^^tfJ— *■  -  -}A.iSShHi^iit-*.xj»l^  «ti.j  ^AmAj  *-a»Ma.iM»»-'>^*-  ^-^ 


92 


POMPEII 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII    93 


8.  This  cast  is  not  a  very  perfect  one.  There 
is  a  silver  serpentine  ring  on  the  little  finger 
of  the  left  hand.  This  ring,  and  another  obvious 
consideration,  have  led  to  the  inference  that  she 
was  a  married  woman. 

g.  Two  female  bodies,  usually  called  < Mother 
and  daughter  >. 

10.  An  old  man  lying  on  his  face.  His  left 
leg  had  been  amputated  at  the  knee,  which  ac- 
counts for  his  inability  to   escape. 

11.  The  emaciated  body  of  a  child  of  about 
six  years  of  age.  This  child  must  probably  have 
been  ill  at  the  time  of  the  catastrophe  and 
consequently  unable  to   escape. 

The  remaining  casts  do  not  require  special 
description. 

On  the  end  w^all  :  Specimens  of  differently 
coloured  marbles  found  in  the  excavations.  Below 
them  four  <(  terms  >  *  in  coloured  marble;  the 
Satyr's  head  on  the  corner  one  being  interesting 
for  its  expression. 

In  the  rack  along  the  eastern  wall  is  a  col- 
lection of  amphorae  of  various  kinds.  These  were 
filled  with  wine  and  buried  in  the  ground  about 
2  0  inches.   Some    will    be  seen    m    situ  in    the 

-''  A  term   is  a  foursided  pillar  with  a  human  head  at 
the  top  of  it. 


01 


4^ 


\ 


\i 


f 


course  of  our  walk  through  the  town.  In  the 
centre  of  this  rack  are  two  very  fine  sheets  of 
window  glass,  the  largest  being  very  nearly  two 
feet  square. 

We  shall  now^  return  to  the  door  by  which 
we  entered  and  take  the  wall  case  on  the  riuht 
wall  from  that  end ,  as  its  compartments  are 
numbered  from  right  to  left. 

Against  the  end  w^all:  2447.  A  very  fine 
head  of  Silenus.  This  is  one  of  the  boldest  pieces 
of  painting  in  Pompeii,  and  the  colouring  is 
excellent.  It  should  be  looked  at  from  a  little 
distance  when  its  wonderful  effect  will  be  readily 
appreciated. 

On  the  other  side  is  Narcissus  admirincr  his 
reflection   in  the  water,  with  Cupid  on   his  knee. 

Below  this  is  a  kneelincr  Atlas  in  terra-cotta. 
supporting  an  abacus  which  was  broken  and 
repaired   in   Roman  times. 

Wall  case  i  :  Small  pipkins  and  grotesque 
cups  and  pots — Three  money  boxes  and  some 
curious  little  red  cups — A  very  large  bowl  w^ith 
four  handles  and  perforated  bottom  ,  to  strain 
vegetables. 

Wall-case  ii:  Similar  specimens.  In  the  bot- 
tom right-hand  corner  is  a  terra-cotta  inkstand 
with  some  interestincr   water-bottles. 

o 

Wall-case  hi:  The  two  lower  shelves  contain 


iilWBlillihifTBrit  HI  'illiilliipg'-»J^"ii— '*^J"^''^*-*-="-^-i^i*.iitTlaii  I II  n^aaiMllfcaM^AjM—afa 


BUriaftnWuiitilMMIliM nn     iTaMili^liJJfctfcJiilM  liiilll 


94 


POMPEII 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII   9.' 


small  terra-cotta  altars.  The  three  hollow-shaped 
clay  troughs  are  thought  to  have  served  some 
analogous  purpose,  the  one  shaped  like  a  cradle 
in  the  left  corner  being  especially  curious  and 
grotesque. 

Above  WALL-CASE  IV  is  a  terra-cotta  spouting 
with  a  lion  in  the  round,  holding  up  an  Acanthus 
leaf  with  his  paws.  On  each  side  are  warriors  and 
horses  in  basrelief,  gaily  painted  in  red  and  green. 

The  WALL-CASES  IV  to  X  inclusive,  contain 
common  earthenware  pots  not  requiring  minute 
description. 

The  WALL-CASES  XI  to  XV  contain  the  platters, 
bowls,  saucers  and  dishes  of  a  Roman  dinner 
service.  This  is  usually  known  as  «Samian  ware> 
and  the  patterns  upon  it  are  very  clever  and 
beautiful. 

On  the  bottom  shelf  of  wall-cases  xii  are 
two  fine  specimens  of  glazed  earthenware  and 
in  xiii  some  very  large  platters  which  had  been 
carefully  repaired  in  Roman  times.  Beneath  these 
cases  are  some  clay  mortars,  and  two  specimens 
which  look  like  chimney-pots,  but  which  were 
really  small  cupolas  to  give  light  and  air  to  under- 
ground  warehouses  and  passages. 

Wall-cases  xvi  and  xvii  contain  lamps  of  no 
special  importance,  but  the  large  tiles  beneath 
them  will  be  of  interest  to  the  architectural  reader. 


^> 


4) 


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4> 


<l 


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V.' 

i 


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>    i 

> 


I  / 


Wall-cases  xviii,  xix  and  xx  contain  gar- 
goyles many  of  which  are  interesting  for  their 
modelling. 

Wall-case  xxi:  This  contains  some  freely 
rendered  basreliefs  in  terra-cotta  for  the  friezes 
of  houses,  and  the  lower  shelf  contains  some 
painted  vases  of  a  late  period.  These  are  not 
Roman,  but  were  found  in  some  Samnite  tombs 
discovered  near  the  Street  of  the  Tombs  in  the 
early  days  of  the  excavations.    . 

The  Bronze  Room 

Cast  of  an  old  man  (evidently  a  Roman)  who 
seems  to  have  died  quite  peacefully,  and  looks 
as  if  he  were  asleep. 

The  following  case  contains  the  cast  of  a 
man  who  died  in  great  agony.  He  was  probably 
a  slave. 

The  skeletons  in  the  left  wall-case  speak  for 
themselves,  with  the  exception  of  that  of  a  fowl 
on  the  first  shelf,  and  that  of  a  rabbit  in  a 
bronze  bowl  next  to  it.  This  is  wrongly  marked 
Sus,  the  original  supposition  having  been  that 
it  was  a  sucking  pig,  which  is  clearly  disproved 
by  the  molar  teeth.— This  was  actually  prepared 
for  the  meal  of  a  Roman  on  the  24th  of  Novem- 
ber a.  d.   79 ! 


i 


'^"■^•-^'■^■^-''"  -f  iiii  IBiiiTiffSiitiiiiTiii  i'r'>^T-*-^'**"*'''''»i6ifa>igi 


^jlgdiaagl&UHjIijk 


96 


POMPEII 


THE  SEA  GATE  AND  MUSEUM  OF  POMPEII   97 


By  the  window  are  two  nice  marble  Statuettes 
one  of  the  Young  Hercules,  the  other  of  Venus 
doing  her  hair. 

Wall-case,  (western  wall).  The  first  six 
divisions  of  this  wall-case  contain  kitchen  utensils 
and  a  few  sacrificial  pater(B  ,  some  stoves  and 
a  brazier,  scales,  strigils,  buckles  for  harness, 
spoons,  lamps,  and  fragments  of  furniture;  all 
in  bronze. 

The  next  division  contains  Roman  glass,  of 
which  one  specimen  is  blue,  one  marbled,  and 
the  rest  plain.  Some  lachrymatories ,  or  tear 
bottles  will  be  noticed.  These  used  to  be  laid 
upon  the  breast  of  the  corpse  in  the  burial  pe- 
riods, and  placed  near  the  cinerary  urn  in  the 
cremation  times. 

The  next  division  contains  colours  for  paintings, 
comprising,  red,  green,  pink,  yellow,  ochre  and 
three  shades  of  blue. 

The  next  two  divisions  contain  articles  of  food, 
among  which  are  divers  kinds  of  grain  and  fruits, 
the  remains  of  some  fish  (which  look  like  bran) 
among  which  the  sepia  and  the  red  mullet  have 
been  identified. 

Various  kinds  of  grain  ,  some  hens'  eggs, 
walnuts  and  other  fruit  will  be  noticed,  as  well 
as  twelve  loaves  found  in  an  oven. 

The    wall-case    ends    with  a  division    full  of 


L*' 


« 


/' 


V 


human  skulls  and  sea-shells,  all  of  which  last 
have  their  scientific  names  written  upon  them. 
The  turtle  on  the  bottom  shelf  is  interesting 
and  points  to  an  Aldermanic  repast  in  the  Ro- 
man  times! 

We  leave  the  Museum  and  proceed  up  the 
inclined  plane  on  our  right  till  we  reach  the 
level  ground  at  the  top.  Here  we  observe  on 
our  left  a  pavement  of  a  pretty  geometrical 
pattern  laid  in  round  flint-stones,  in  front  of  the 
doors  Nos.  ii  and  12,  which  appear  to  have 
been  wine-shops.  Holes  will  be  observed  in  the 
edge  of  the  kerbstone  at  this  spot  to  which  it 
is  supposed  that  the  Romans  fastened  their 
horses.  This  may  be  the  case,  but  in  the  present 
mstance  and  in  many  others,  the  position  of  the 
holes  would  lead  one  to  infer  that  they  were 
intended  to  secure  the  awnings  of  the  shops. 

Opposite  is  a  temple  discovered  in  i8q8,  which 
was  in  course  of  construction  at  the  time  of  the 
destruction  of  the  city.  It  is  interesting  for  the 
capitals  of  the  pillars  which  were  only  partially 
finished,  and  thus  display  the  Roman  method 
of  carving  marble. 


IF  I 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      9i 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII 

First  group:  The  Greater  Foruni^  The  Basilica-^  The 
Temple   of  Apollo—The    Grajiaries—The    Temple  of 

Jupiter-^  The  Arch  of  Nero—  The  Temple  of  Fortune— 
The  Baths  of  the  Forum—  The  Arch  of  Caligula— 
The  Augusteum  or  Macellum—  The  Curia  Senatorum— 
The   Temple   of  Mercury— The    Exchange    of  Euma- 

chia—The    School   of   Verna—The  so-called    Treasury 

and  Curice. 

1  HE  FORUM  *  was  the  chief  open  space  in  the 
city,  and  as  an  open  space  it  boasted  no  doubt 
a  very  respectable  antiquity.  Just  as  every 
country  town  has  its  market  square  and  every 
village  its  green  now-a-days,  so  in  ancient  times 
every  community  required  an  open  space  for 
purposes  alike  of  business  and  pleasure.  And 
the  analogy  of  things  present  to  things  past  is 

*  Excavated  between   1 813-18. 


/ 

k  < 


.V 


^ 


readily  seen  in  this  matter,  for  do  we  not  de- 
corate our  market-places  with  our  finest  Banks, 
our  monumental  Town  Halls,  and  our  magnificent 
Cathedrals  ?  Nor  is  it  unusual  to  see  the  Courts 
of  Justice  occupying  a  similar  position  of  im- 
portance in  our  English  country  towns. 

And  this  is  exactly  what  we  find  at  Pompeii 

Justice,   Commerce,  Religion  and  Civic  admini- 
stration  all    found   a  place   in  the    Forum;  and 
the  several  buildings  dedicated  to  these  various 
branches  of  the  social  economy  encircled  it  on 
every  side.   But  it  had  not  always  been  so.   In 
the  early  days  the  inhabitants  of  the  town  did 
not    have    these    buildings,   for    the  very    valid 
reason  that  they- did  not  want  them.    The  pa- 
storal Oscan  and  the  bandit  Samnite  cared  for 
none  of  these  things.   Their  justice  lay    in  the 
strength  of  their  right  arm;   their  commerce  in 
seizing   whatever    they  could  and    keeping  it  if 
they   were  able  to  do  so;  and  as  for    their  re- 
ligion  it  was  pretty  much  what  the  religion  of 
primitive   man   always  is,   and  consisted    mainly 
of  the    worship  of  the   heavenly    bodies    under 
forms    more  or    less    absurd  or    grotesque.   We 
can    scarcely    imagine     what    they    must    have 
thought  when  the  Greeks  went    to  the    trouble 
of  building    the    costly  and    magnificent    Doric 
temple  of  Hercules:  they  must    have  wondered 


iailrtgaMAriiBafaiUahii»ahaiaiii"«i"ft^^;tS*ft4WMiMwaal^ 


KX) 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      101 


as  much  as  the  unlettered  savage  of  to-day 
wonders  at  the  building  of  a  missionary  church 
in  his  forgotten  wilderness! 

And  what  was  the  Forum  then?  A  mere 
place  where  four  roads  met,  unpaved  and  uncared 
for.  Centuries  passed  away,  and  the  Samnites 
began  to  settle  into  town  life.  They  fortified 
the  city,  paved  the  streets,  and  reduced  chaos 
to  order.  Still  we  see  but  scanty  survivals  of 
the  Samnites  in  the  architecture  of  the  Forum 
of  Pompeii,  and  it  seems  certain  that  during 
their  occupation  it  was  little  else  than  an  open 
space  used  as  a  market-place,  with  roads  lead- 
ing into  it  from  all  directions.  A  glance  at  it 
as  it  now  is,  will  show  that  such  a  description  no 
longer  applied  to  it  in  the  later  days,  when  it 
came  under  the  control  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

As  we  look  at  it  now,  we  see  that  obstructions 
were  put  to  prevent  wheeled  traffic  from  enter- 
ing its  enclosure,  and  that  both  on  the  eastern 
and  western  sides,  streets  which  originally  must 
have  led  into  it,  were  turned  into  blind  alleys 
by  the  erection  of  the  later  buildings,  which 
made  the  former  market-place  the  glory  of  the 
Roman  city.  But  it  was  not  built  in  a  day,  and  it  is 
scarcely  easy  to  say  at  what  date  its  architectural 
ensemble  was  at  the  finest  point  of  its  develop- 
ment. The    Doric    pillars    which    surrounded  it 


|i| 


\ 


^ 


^^ 


were  no  doubt  before  the  time  of  Augustus, 
while  such  of  the  Ionic  pillars  of,  the  upper 
story  as  remain  were  probably  later  than  the 
earthquakes  of  a.  d.  63 ;  for  it  is  clear  that  this 
upper  portico  was  never  finished,  no  remains  of 
it  having  been  found  on  the  eastern  side,  and 
the  only  steps  leading  up  to  it  being  on  its 
western   face. 

The  area  was  paved  w^ith  large  slabs  of  white 
travertine,  and  the  numerous  pedestals  we  see 
were  surmounted  by  statues  of  illustrious  citizens 
to  whom   this    tribute    had  been    voted   «  by  a 
decree  of  the  Decurions  with  the  consent  of  the 
people  y>   on    account  of  the    benefits    they  had 
rendered  to  the  town   in  their    lifetime.    These 
statues  were    thrown  down  by  the    earthquake 
of  A.   D.    63,   but    thanks  to  a  painting    now  in 
the  Naples  Museum  w^e  know  that  many  of  them 
were    equestrian,   and  we  may  infer    that  most 
of  them  were  in  bronze.  There  is  one  large  pe- 
destal  situated  in  front  of  the  Temple  of  Jupiter 
to  which  this  description  does  not  apply.   It  is 
certain  that  no  statue  or  group  would  be  erected 
to  turn  its  back  to  the  greatest  temple,  the  most 
important    shrine  10    the  city:  nor    is  it    at  all 
probable    that  it  would  face    the    temple,    thus 
turning  its  back  on  the  whole  Forum. 

It  is  extremely  difficult  to  arrive  at  a  certain 


102 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      103 


conclusion  as  to  this  structure  in  its  present 
degraded  state.  In  ancient  times  it  was  faced 
with  travertine  or  marble  ,  and  may  have  had 
steps  leading  up  to  it.  If  so,  it  would  probably 
have  been  a  platform,  rostra,  from  which  orators 
addressed  the  popular  assemblies  ,  and  whence 
also  funeral  orations  were  pronounced. 

There  were  twelve  equestrian  and  four  ordi- 
narv  statues  on  the  western  side  of  the  Forum; 
four  equestrian  statues  and  a  small  arch  at  the 
southern  end,  and  two  equestrian  statues  on  the 
eastern  side.  The  whole  of  the  northern  end  was 
occupied  by  the  Temple  of  Jupiter,  flanked  on 
either  side  by  triumphal  arches;  the  remaining 
sides  were  lined  by  the  Basilica,  the  temples, 
and  other  public  edifices. 

And  now  let  us  pause  for  a  moment  to  con- 
sider what  use  was  made  of  the  Forum  in  an- 
cient times.  Originally,  that  is  before  civic  life 
really  existed,  the  Forum  was  simply  a  market- 
place. The  Samnitic  measures  carefully  readjusted 
to  the  Roman  standard,  prove  that  in  the  remote 
times  as  well  as  in  the  more  strictly  historical 
period  ,  corn  was  habitually  bought  and  sold 
there.  Again,  the  frescoes  we  have  mentioned 
show  the  hardware  dealers  of  the  Roman  period 
spreading  out  their  cutlery  upon  the  pavement 
fust  as  their  Neapolitan  posterity  do  now-a-days; 


i!    1 


I 


> 


i 


m-  » 


I 

! 


all  proving  that  buying  and  selling  was  for 
centuries  the  main  object  of  the  Forum. 

But  as  population  increased  and  the  necessi- 
ties of  the  case  were  more  pressing,  it  became 
advisable  to  establish  more  markets  than  one, 
and  this  led  to  the  separation  of  the  I^^ora  Venalia 
or  market  places  from  th^  Forum  ^/z///^  or  political 
piazza.  To  decide  how  many  of  these  Fora  there 
were  ,  and  where  they  were  situated  will  in- 
volve us  in  some  conjectures  later  on.  Pompeii 
for  example  must  certainly  have  had  a  Forum 
Boar  turn  or  cattle  market,  and  such  market  was 
undoubtedly  not  held  in  either  of  the  existing 
Fora  in  Roman  times.  Overbeck  states  that  the 
cattle  market  was  discovered  near  the  Amphi- 
theatre and  subsequently  filled  up,  but  \vi  does 
not  give  us  his  authority  for  the  statement, 
which  however  he  would  not  make  unless  he 
had  good  grounds  for  believing  it  to  be  correct. 

The  Forum  of  which  we  are  treating  was  at 
any  rate  a  market  for  corn  in  the  Roman  times, 
and  the  part  of  it  that  was  allotted  to  this 
purpose  seems  to  have  been  the  recess  between 
the  Temple  of  Apollo  and  that  of  Jupiter.  The 
public  measures  for  grain  now  in  the  Naples 
Museum  are  almost  conclusive  proof  of  this,  and 
no  doubt  these  were  used  to  justify  measures 
of  local   manufacture.  It  is  remarkable,  however, 


104 


POMPEir 


that  all  the  bronze  measures  in  the  Naples 
Museum,  (most  of  which  came  from  Pompeii) 
which  bear  any  mark  at  all,  are  stated  to  have 
been  Exacta  in  Capitolio,  showing  that  these 
were  justified  in   Rome  and   not  at  Pompeii. 

The  ordinary  provision  markets  being  thus 
removed  from  the  Forum,  it  now  began  to  ac- 
quire its  purely  civil   character. 

In   point  of    political    life    it    was    here    that 
elections  were  held,   and  mup^pal    officers  ap- 
pointed.  Here  no  doubt  were  the    treasury  and 
the  town  hall.   Here  the   yEdile  looked  after  the 
Board  of  Works ,   and    the    Duumvir  after    the 
Magisterial  business.  Here    enthusiastic     scenes 
took  place  when  the  popular  voice  seconded  the 
decree  of  the  Decurions    according  special    ho- 
nours to    illustrious    citizens.   The    Forum    was 
also  used   for  other  important  purposes  of  Civil 
life.   It  was  the  religious  centre,  for  it  was  here 
that  the  great    sacrifices  were    celebrated,  and 
all  the  public  festivals  solemnised.   It  was  thron- 
ged  for  public   rejoicings;   and   no  doubt  in   her 
great  sieges,   it  was  here  that  the  united  voice 
of  the  brave  little  city  acclaimed  the    determi- 
nation of  the  garrison  to  hold  out  to  the    last. 
Nor  was  the  Forum    only  a  place    for  politics, 
religion,  and  general  business,  for  it  is  clear  that 
before  the  Amphitheatre    was    built  the    public 


1.  \ 

i 

rv- '- '  '             ^ 

• .  .1, 


.-'■■■- 


-  -A 


■;?? 


*w. 


••* 


'.1  ■*.* 
-'.'■it 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII       105 

trames  and  u^ladiatorial  combats  were  held  in  it; 
as  indeed  was  the  case  in  all  the  Roman  towns  of 
that  period.  Vitruvius  states  that  it  was  on  this 
account  that  the  Romans  discarded  the  square 
form  ( f  the  Greek  Agora  and  built  their  Fora 
in  the  proportion  of  one  to  three,  a  proportion 
by  the  way  not  exactly  observed  in  Pompeii, 
the  space  in  question  being  some  thirty  yards 
lonpfer  than  its  double  breadth. 

We  will  now  take  the  buildings  which  sur- 
round the  Forum  one  by  one  ,  beginning  with 
the  Basilica  or  Law  Court  (excavated  in  i8o6; 
1 813-14),  which  stands  in  the  S.  W.  corner. 
The  name  of  this  buildjng  as  well  as  its  form 
and  purpose  was  derived  from  the  Greeks;  who 
gave  this  appellation  to  the  Sioa  at  Athens  where 
the  Archon  Basiletis  administered  justice. 

In  Roman  times,  the  Basilica,  though  primarily 
a  law-court,  was  also  the  centre  of  commerce, 
and  might  be  described  as  the  €  Royal  Exchange  > 
of  the  day.  Just  as  in  the  case  of  the  Fora. 
the  Basilicae  became  unequal  to  the  double  pur- 
pose as  the  volum.e  of  trade  increased;  for  the 
judges  found  it  impossible  to  hear  causes  w^hile 
the  numerous  merchants  were  making  their 
bargains ,  and  it  became  necessary  to  have  a 
separate  building  for  each  purpose. 

The  Basilicae  of  .Rome  have  a  further  interets 


1(X) 


POMPEII 


for  us,  in  that  they  were  often  subsequently 
adapted  to  Christian  worship  when  that  form 
of  religion  spread  itself  over  the  Empire ;  and 
the  Basilica  shape  has  been  retained  throughout 
the  Christian  centuries  in  many  Cathedrals  and 
large  churches. 

The  Basilica  of  Pompeii  w^as  standing  in  77 
B.  c.  as  we  learn  from  an  inscription  mentioning 
the  Consulship  of  Marcus  Lepidus  and  Q.  Ca- 
tullus who  were  Consuls  in  that  year,  but  the 
entrance  portico  is  older  still,  for  an  inscription 
found  upon  it  states  that  it  was  erected  by 
Vibius  Popidius  the  Quaestor  ,  showing  that  it 
must  have  been  built  before  the  city  became  a 
colony,  when  that  office  was  abolished.  The 
judgment  seat  at  the  western  end  belongs  to  a 
later  period  and  a  fragment  of  an  inscription 
found  in  a  neighbouring  house  which  seems  to 
have  belonged  to  it,  leads  us  to  infer  that  it 
was  erected  by  M.  Artorius  Primus,  who  was 
the  Architect  of  the  greater  theatre.  Beneath 
it  was  a  cell  for  prisoners  ,  or  possibly  a  de- 
pository for  the  records  of  the  Court,  and  it 
seems  probable  that  the  Judge's  throne  was 
reached  by  a  flight  of  w^ooden  steps  which  have 
perished. 

The  Basilica  had  an  entrance  on  its  northern 
side  leading  into  the  street  of  the  Sea  Gate,  as 


41 


r 


.ii 


J 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII       107 

well  as  one  on  its  southern  side ,  but  its  main 
approach  was  by  a  handsome  vestibule  facing  the 
Forum,  which  had  five  doors,  the  pillars  of  which 
were  adorned  with  statues ,  and  corresponded 
to  the  internal  arrangement  of  the  area  of  the 
building.  This  area  was  divided  into  a  nave 
with  two  aisles,  of  which  the  former  was  open 
to  the  sky,  while  the  latter  formed  a  cloister 
surrounding  the  entire  building.  This  cloister 
was  supported  on  twenty-eight  large  Ionic  brick 
pillars  of  admirable  construction  ,  and  had  a 
spectators'  gallery  above  it,  accessible  from  the 
upper  story  of  the  Forum  colonnade,  the  approach 
to  which  will  be  seen  outside  the  southern  wall 
of  the  Basilica. 

With  the  exception  of  some  very  fine  tufa 
capitals,  all  the  decorations  of  the  building  were 
found  in  fragments,  but  they  are  known  to  have 
included  an  equestrian  statue  in  gilded  bronze, 
several  ^erms  and  lavers,  and  many  inscriptions, 
all  of  which  were  most  inefficiently  recorded  by 
the  early  excavators. 

A  very  large  number  of  graffiti  scribbled  on 
the  walls  were  taken  to  the  Naples  Museum 
and  have  been  published  by  Prof.  Zangemeister. 
They  consisted  of  remarks  upon  the  law's  delay, 
and  similar  complaints,  as  well  as  of  verses  from 
Virgil,  Ovid,  and  Propertius;  and  it  is    worthy 


108 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII       109 


of  note  that  hitherto  no  quotation  from  Horace 
has  been  found,  showing  perhaps  that  his  charm- 
ing odes  were  not  so  much  appreciated  in  Roman 
times  as  they  are  in  our  own. 

The  Temple  of  ApoHo  (1818)  is  the  next  building 
to  the  North  of  the  Basilica,  and  is  one  of  the 
temples  which  existed  during  the  Samnite  oc- 
cupation. It  is  the  largest  and  handsomest  of 
the  Pompeian  temples,  and  was  long  supposed 
to  have  been  dedicated  to  Venus  the  protecting 
goddess  of  Pompeii.  This  dedication  was  justified 
.  in  various  ways.  It  was  argued  that  there  must 
have  been  a  temple  to  the  <  Pompeian  Venus  > 
whose  name  appears  so  often  in  the  inscriptions, 
and  that  granting  this,  there  was  no  other  than 
this  one  eligible  for  the  purpose.  Further,  a 
statue  of  Venus  which  is  now  in  the  Naples 
Museum  was  found  there,  as  w^ell  as  a  head  also 
representing  her;  again  the  very  peculiar  con- 
struction of  the  altar  was  called  to  witness , 
because  the  offerings  to  Venus  being  fruits  and 
flowers,  required  an  altar  different  from  those 
adapted  to  ordinary  sacrifices.  But  perhaps  the 
thing  that  led  the  authorities  most  entirely  astray,, 
was  an  inscription  relating  to  the  closing  in  of 
the  temple  by  Holconius  Rufus  and  Ignatius 
Postumus,  the  Duumvirs,  wherein  the  words  col. 


y 

4 


r 


1 


^ 


J 

>  V 

i 


VEN.  COR.  occur.  These  words  were  translated 
€  The  College  of  the  incorporated  Venereans  > 
and  appeared  to  justify  the  conclusion  to  which 
the  antiquaries  had  arrived. 

That  there  was  weight  in  their  arguments  is 
certain;  sufficient  weight  indeed  to  make  it  more 
than  probable  that  Venus  at  some  time  or  an- 
other may  have  shared  this  sumptuous  edifice 
with  the  Roman  Sun-god;  and  this  is  the  more 
probable  because  there  was  a  bronze  Diana 
which  formed  part  of  a  group  with  an  herma- 
phrodite Apollo,  a  krm  of  Mercury,  and  another 
thought  to  be  Maia.  There  were  also  besides  the 
principal  altar,  two  detached  altars  which  seem 
to  show  that  more  than  one  deity  was  actually 
worshipped  in  the  precincts. 

If  however  we  turn  to  another  set  of  survi- 
vals, we  find  traces  so  distinct  of  the  worship 
of  Apollo  that  no  doubt  can  remain  that  the 
temple  was  not  only  dedicated  to  him,  but  that 
his  worship  obtained  in  it  down  to  Roman  times. 
The  most  important  of  these  survivals  will  be 
seen  on  the  threshold  of  the  cella  (or  shrine) 
where  a  facsimile  of  the  ancient  slab  will  be 
observed;  the  slab  itself  being  in  the  Naples 
Museum  No.  11 3398.  This  slab  is  marked  with 
small  dots  or  punctures  which  were  first*  noticed 
in    1883;  and  from  the  forms   of  these  dots  the 


110 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII       111 


Oscan  letters  which  had  been  originally  secured 
by  them  were  ingeniously  ascertained.  None  of 
the  letters  remained ,  and  in  some  parts  the 
threshold  was  so  much  worn  away  that  the  dots 
themselves  had  disappeared. 

The  characters  which  were  still  traceable 
made  up  the  following  sentence,  the  italics  in 
brackets  being  conjectural: 

<  Quaestor  0{ppius)  Cz.m^{anius)  by  decision 

of  the  Council  permitted to  be  made 

out  of  the  treasury  of  Apollo  >. 

What  it  was  that  he  permitted  to  be  made 
we  cannot  say,  but  Overbeck  offers  the  reaso- 
nable conjecture  that  it  was  the  marble  floor  of 
the  cella,  just  as  we  observe  that  the  pavement 
in  the  smaller  theatre  was  given  by  Marcus 
Oculatius  Verus,  the  Duumvir  who  recorded  his 
gift  by  a  similar  inscription  in  Latin.  Be  this 
as  it  may,  the  inscription  alone  is  almost  posi- 
tive proof  that  the  temple  was  dedicated  to 
Apollo,  for  the  money  from  his  treasury  would 
hardly  be  devoted  to  the  purposes  of  another 
shrine. 

Nor  is  this  the  only  trace  of  that  deity;  for 
we  find  in  the  cella  the  omphalos,  a  stone  cone 
nearly  two  feet  high,  which  was  supposed  to 
represent  the  centre  of  the  earth,  and  was  the 
universal  symbol  of  the   Sun-god.    Besides  this 


t 


^  - 


I 


we  find  a  colossal  tripod  painted  on  the  right 
hand  pillar,  and  a  sundial  standing  by  the  side 
of  the  steps.  It  will  not  be  necessary  to  remind 
the  classical  reader  that  in  the  opening  scene 
of  the  Greek  tragedy  bearing  his  name,  Orestes 
who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  temple  of  Apollo 
after  murdering  his  mother,  is  discovered  seated 
upon  the  omphalos  in  the  shrine  of  the  god. 
The  tripod  again  is  the  universal  attribute  of 
this  deity,  and  became  so  because  the  Priestess 
Pythia  used  to  sit  upon  the  tripod  of  the  oracle 
of  Apollo  at  Delphi.  In  this  position  she  inhaled 
the  gas  from  the  fissure  in  the  rock  below,  and 
this  caused  her  to  give  vent  to  the  incoherent 
ravings  which  the  attendant  priests  turned  into 
hexameter  verse,  and  doled  out  to  the  worship- 
pers as  the  answers  of  the  god. 

The  sundial  erected  on  a  marble  pillar  to  the 
left  of  the  steps  by  the  Duumvirs  Sepunius  and 
Erennius,  may  also  have  been  an  appropriate 
offering  to  the  sungod,  but  it  is  perhaps  too 
much  to  assert  this  in  the  case  of  a  town  where 
sundials  were  common. 

We  have  stated  advisedly  that  this  temple 
was  the  finest  in  Pompeii  :  no  other  covered  so 
much  ground;  no  other  was  so  profusely  deco- 
rated; of  no  Samnite  building  in  Pompeii  have 
we  so  complete  and  so  authentic  an  history.  It 


11-2 


FOMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  01'  POMPEII      li;i 


was  originally  a  shrine  surrounded  by  a  colon- 
nade, but  when  the  portico  of  the  Forum  was 
built  it  was  obviously  necessary  to  shut  off  the 
temple  by  a  wall,  to  avoid  the  unsatisfactory 
appearance  of  two  colonnades  standing  back  to 
back.  The  temple  was  in  the  Doric  style  of  all 
the  Samnite  monuments,  but  the  restorers  con- 
verted the  partition  wall  into  Ionic,  and  proceeded 
to  carry  out  their  ill-considered  alteration  through 
the  entire  building. 

They  decorated  the  walls  with  paintings  mainly 
representing  scenes  of  the  Trojan  war,  in  which 
the  <c  far-darting  Apollo  >  played  so  conspicuous 
a  part;  but  such  of  these  as  have  not  been  re- 
moved to  the  Naples  Museum  have  utterly 
perished. 

The  cella  is  in  the  Corinthian  style  with  six 
columns  in  front  and  ten  on  either  side.  The 
floor  of  the  shrine  is  beautifully  paved  in  coloured 
marbles,  and  contains,  besides  the  omphalos,  the 
pedestal  of  the  principal   statue. 

The  records  of  the  excavation  of  the  temple 
are  meagre  and  unsatisfactory  as  is  usual  in  the 
early  excavations,  this  building  having  been 
discovered  in  1818,  and  no  comprehensible  ex- 
planation has  yet  been  arrived  at  of  the  fact 
that  the  body  of  the  bronze  Apollo,  now  at 
Naples,  was  found  in  the  temple,  while  the  two 


It  1 


/ 


>    * 


I 


legs  of  the  statue  were  discovered  in  one  of  the 
towers  on  the  city  walls.  The  oracular  statue  of 
Diana,  now  in  the  Museum  at  Naples,  was  also 
found  in  this  temple  and  is  a  most  interesting 
specimen,  because  there  was  evidently  a  speak- 
ing tube  which  led  to  the  mouth  through  the 
back  of  the  head,  and  holes  in  the  right  shoul- 
der-blade seem  to  have  been  made  to  contain 
wires  to  work  the  eyes. 

The  inscriptions  record  the  various  persons 
who  presented  valuable  gifts  to  the  temple  of 
the  god  ,  and  the  ancient  pillars  are  still  seen 
imbedded  in  the  more  recent  walls.  At  the  nor- 
thern end  of  the  temple  is  a  door  leading  out 
into  the  Forum,  near  which  is  a  flight  of  steps 
which  appear  to  us  to  have  led  to  the  roof  of 
the  portico  of  the  temple,  and  not  to  that  of  the 
Forum.  A  modern  workshop  erected  on  this  spot 
has  rendered  all  speculation  on  the  subject  only 
guesswork.  Between  the  northern  door  nf  the 
temple  of  Apollo  and  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  is 
a  range  of  brick  buildings  forming  the  northern 
end  of  the  West  side  of  the  Forum,  of  which 
the  first  was  most  probably  the  c  Corn  Ex- 
change >  of  the  city;  the  second  undoubtedly 
a  public  latrine;  and  the  last,  to  which  access 
is  obtained  by  a  small  low  door  (now  closed) 
is  stated  by  many  writers  to  have  been  a  prison, 


114 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBUC  build: NGS  OF  POMPEII      115 


which  is  further  vouched  for  by  the  untrust- 
worthy legend  that  skeletons  fastened  in  stocks 
were  found  in  it.  Fiorelli  dismisses  this  legend 
with  a  smi^e,  and  suggests  that  the  building 
was  probably  the  treasury  of  the  Temple  of 
Jupiter  which  stands  opposite  to  it.  It  has  a 
modern  door  which  is  now  locked,  but  the  an- 
cient door  was  of  iron  and  led  into  a  chamber 
lighted  by  a  small  aperture  from  above ;  this  led 
into  another  that  was  completely  dark.  Above 
these  chambers  were  two  shops  with  doors  about 
four  feet  above  the  level  of  the  street,  which  must 
have  been  approached  by  wooden  steps.  This 
would  show^  that  they  are  of  later  construction 
than  the  chamber  below,  as  their  steps  must 
have  been  a  decided  obstruction  to  the  narrow 
thoroughfare,  and  were  probably  only  a  make- 
shift. 

The  Temple  of  Jupiter  (1817)  flanked  by  tw^o 
triumphal  arches  which  span  the  main  entrances 
of  the  Forum  ,  occupies  the  northern  side,  and 
there  is  ample  proof  both  from  the  inscriptions 
and  the  statuary  found  in  it  that  it  was  dedi- 
cated to  this  deity.  A  double  flight  of  steps  leads 
up  on  either  side  to  a  large  platform  in  front 
of  the  temple.  These  steps  are  fifteen  in  num- 
ber* the  architect  having  followed  the  instructions 


/     ♦ 


of  Vitruvius,  who  lays  down  the  maxim  that 
the  approach  to  a  temple  should  consist  of  an 
unequal  number  of  steps,  so  that  the  worshipper 
beginning  the  ascent  with  his  right  foot,  should 
likewise  plant  his  right  foot  first  within  the 
building. 

The  facade  of  the  temple  consists  of  six  very 
fine  Corinthian  columns,  of  which  the  right  hand 
one  has  been  put  together  again.  This  was  done 
in  1884  when  a  succession  of  Roman  games 
was  held  at  Pompeii  for  a  charitable  purpose 
connected  with  the  disastrous  earthnuake  which 
occurred  at  Casamicciola  in  the  preceding  year. 

The  cella  seems  to  have  been  built  on  the 
Greek  plan  with  two  rows  of  columns  one  above 
the  other,  the  floor  of  the  gallery  resting  on 
the  lower  tier,  and  the  roof  of  the  temple  on 
the  upper  one.  Access  to  the  gallery  seems  to 
have  been  obtainable  by  a  small  staircase  hidden 
behind  the  three  diminutive  cells  at  the  back. 
There  is  a  large  basement  to  the  temple  acces- 
sible by  a  small  door  (now  locked)  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  base.  In  this  a  colossal  head 
of  Jupiter  was  found,  as  well  as  a  vast  number 
of  fragments  of  the  temple,  showing  that  this 
edifice  had  suffered  severely  in  the  63  earth- 
quake, and  that  at  the  time  of  the  destruction 
of  the  city,  steps  were   being  taken  to  restore  it. 


|gjiLaKAigtti^MU|gli|d!|| 


116 


POMPEII 


It  is  difficult  to  account  for  the  extremely 
limited  accomodation  in  this  temple,  which  must 
from  its  importance  have  required  a  considerable 
staff  of  priests.  The  tiny  cells  at  the  back  can 
hardly  be  taken  into  consideration,  and  even  if 
there  was  an  upper  story  to  them,  its  space 
must  have  been  very  limited  indeed. 

The  Triumphal  Arch  (1818)  on  the  eastern  side 
of  the  temple  was  dedicated  by  an  inscription 
to  Nero  Caesar  son  of  Germanicus,  and  was  at 
one  time  cased  with  marble.  On  the  Forum  side 
are  niches  for  statues,  and  on  the  other  there 
are  deeper  niches  and  pipes  running  up  into 
them,  showing  that  fountains  stood  in  them.  No 
trace  was  found  of  any  statue  upon  the  top  of  the 
arch,  from  which  we  should  infer  that  it  was  built 
in  the  earlier  years  of  Nero's  reign,  and,  that  the 
statue    perished    in  the  earthquake  of  a.   d.   63. 

The  Arch  on  the  w^estern  side  of  the  Temple 
is  now  shorn  of  almost  all  its  ancient  decoration, 
and  as  no  inscriptions  were  found  upon  it,  any 
statements  as  to  its  use  are  purely  conjectural. 

We  shall  now  leave  the  Forum  for  a  moment 
to  visit  three  public  buildings  which  stand  about 
fifty  yards  behind  the  temple  of  Jupiter;  namely, 
the  Temple  of  Fortune,  the  Baths  of  the  Forum, 
and  the  Arch  of  Caligula. 


THE  PUHIJC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      117 


i 


Cj  :?*■■■ 


^ 


»■■'„■•■■ 


#=1 


Emerging  from  the  Forum  we  have  before  us 
the  Street  of  Mercury,  the  widest  and  in  many 
respects  the  most  interesting  in  Pompeii  ,  run- 
ning from  the  Arch  of  Caligula  to  the  city  walls. 

On  our  right  we  may  observe  in  the  corner 
of  a  small  shop  a  bit  of  roofing  set  up  with  its 
pretty  spoutings,  to  show  visitors  the  method 
of  roofing  adopted  in  Roman  times.  Adjoining 
this,  in  an  open  space  are  some  colossal  pithoi, 
or  jars  of  terracotta.  These  were  found  near 
the  ancient  bed  of  the  river  Sarnus  and  were 
moved  here  for  safe  custody.  They  were  used 
to  contain  dry  goods. 

The  Temple  of  Fortune  (1823)  stands  at  the  right 
hand  upper  corner  of  the  street ,  and  faces  to 
the  westward.  It  was  a  beautiful  little  Corinthian 
temple,  built  by  the  Duumvir  Marcus  Tullius 
and  dedicated  probably  about  a.  d.  4.  It  had  an 
iron  railing  in  front  of  it,  and  whether  by  acci- 
dent or  design  ,  the  fragments  of  this  railing 
when  struck  with  metal  produce  the  notes  of 
the  musical  scale,  a  circumstance  which  has  not 
yet  been  accounted  for. 

An  altar  stood  Just  within  the  railincr  ,  and 
the  vestibule  was  adorned  with  four  Corinthian 
columns,  while  within  the  cella  was  the  statue 
of  the  goddess,  standing  beneath  an  architrave 


118 


POMPEII 


'tT' 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII     119 


upon  which  was  an  inscription  dedicating  the 
temple  to  the  Fortune  of  Augustus.  The  Statue 
of  Fortune  was  not  found  ,  and  Fiorelli  thinks 
that  the  statues  of  the  family  of  Augustus  were 
removed  from  the  temple  when  the  Augusteum 
was  built;  and  the  portraits  of  Marcus  Tullius, 
a  statue  thought  to  be  Cicero  ,  and  a  female 
statue  of  which  the  face  is  broken  off,  substituted 
in  their  place. 

The  ladies  of  Roman  times  were  specially 
devoted  to  the  worship  of  Fortune  ,  who  was 
supposed  to  be  ab^e  to  hide  the  personal  defects 
of  her  votaries  from  the  eyes  of  their  husbands 
and  lovers. 

The  Forum  Baths  (1824-25)  occupy    the    whole 
block  opposite  the  Temple  of  Fortune,  with  the 
exception    of  a  few    shops    on  its    eastern    and 
southern  face.   Their  main  entrance  was  into  the 
wide   street  in    which  the    Temple    of    Fortune 
stands,  and  led  into  the  court  or  palaestra.   It  is 
generally  admitted  that  this  is  the  older  of  the 
two  bathing  establishments  at  Pompeii.   Fiorelli 
dates  it  from  the  time  of  Sulla  ,  and    considers 
that  it    was    finished  in    the  time  of    Augustus 
about  5    A.   D.  An    inscription    informs    us  that 
these  Baths  were    built    with  public    money  by 
Cc-esius,   Occius,  and  Niraemius,  the  JEdWe   and 


■t  k 


■1^ 


i- 


Duumvirs  of  the  day,  and  the  circumstances  at- 
tending its  dedication  were  recorded  in  a  painted 
inscription  long  since  vanished,  which  after  salut- 
ing Maius  as  the  chief  of  the  colony  states  that 
<  on  the  occasion  of  the  dedication  of  the  baths, 
by  the  liberality  of  Nigidius  there  would  be  a 
hunting  scene  played  by  Athletes,  that  the  spec- 
tators would  be  sprinkled  with  perfumes  ,  and 
the  awnings  would  be  spread.  >  A  similar  in- 
scription to  the  same  effect  was  found  on  the 
walls  of  the  ladies'  sid  '  of  the  establishment. 
The  ground  plan  of  the  Baths  is  of  the  shape 
of  a  wedge  having  its  broad  end  to  the  North, 
of  which  advanta<re  was  taken  to  locate  all  the 
main   buildings   in  that  part  of  the  structure. 

The  sexes  appear  to  have  been  more  carefully 
separated  in  this  establishment  than  in  the  Sta- 
bian  baths  which'  we  shall  describe  further  on, 
and  this  perhaps  is  a  sign  that  they  w^ere  of  an 
earlier  period,  when  greater  regard  was  paid  to 
the  public  morality. 

The  first  entrance  on  our  left  after  leavin^r 
the  temple  of  Fortune  takes  us  into  the  men's 
side,  and  here  we  notice  a  flight  of  steps  which 
led  to  the  chambers  above.  The  first  room  we 
enter  after  passing  through  a  narrow^  passage 
is  the  Apodyterium  or  dressing  room,  a  spacious 
apartment  with  a  vaulted  roof,    and   seats    with 


120 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII     121 


a  foot-rest  running  round  three  sides  of  it.  The 
foot-rest  is  very  much  worn  ,  and  traces  may 
still  be  seen  on  the  walls  of  the  places  where 
the  pegs  stood  upon  which  the  bathers  hung 
their  garments.  The  decoration  of  the  roof  shows 
a  mixture  of  styles  and  was  clearly  not  all  by 
the  same  hand;  from  which  we  infer  that  the 
building  was  repaired  after  the  63  earthquake.  A 
niche  which  on'ce  contained  a  lamp,  is  still  vi- 
sible in  the  wall;  and  above  it  a  window  which 
was  formed  of  a  single  pane  of  glass  ,  simply 
built  into  the  brickwork. 

The  stucco  decorations  are  interesting,  the 
most  conspicuous  being  a  head  of  Neptune  in 
relief  with  the  water  pouring  from  his  hair  and 
beard  ;  he  is  surrounded  by  Tritons  and  Cupids 
bearing  cups  and  arms.  This  hall  though  ap- 
parently used  as  a  robing  room  was  very  public, 
for  there  are  no  less  than  six  doorways  lead- 
ing into  it;  namely  two  on  the  North  side,  of 
which  one  led  into  the  street,  the  other  into  a 
small  room  which  may  have  been  used  for  hair- 
dressing  and  shaving;  two  on  the  western  side 
of  which  the  first  leads  to  the  heating  apparatus, 
which  is  situated  between  the  baths  for  the  la- 
dies and  those  for  the  gentlemen;  and  the  second 
into  the  warm  room  or  tepidarium\  and  two  to 
the  South,   of  which    one    leads  to    the    plunge 


s 


bath  and  the  other  to  the  courtyard  of  the 
establishment. 

The  Frigidarinm  or  plunge  bath  is  in  a  very 
fine  state  of  preservation.  It  is  covered  by  a  dome, 
and  lighted  by  a  small  conical  aperture  which 
was  glazed.  A  jet  of  water  fell  from  a  bronze 
spout  into  the  circular  marble  tank  below,  the 
walls  were  painted  with  floral  decoration  ,  and 
the  cornice  is  designed  in  stucco  reliefs  with 
spirited  representations  of  Cupids,  some  on  horse- 
back, others  driving  chariots  at  full  gallop. 

The  Tepidaritini  or  warm  chamber,  is  the 
chief  feature  of  this  establishment.  The  ni- 
ches in  it  are  supported  by  male  figures  in 
terra-cotta  called  in  archaeology  <  Atlantes  >, 
as  female  figures  used  for  a  similar  purpose  are 
called  €  Caryatids  >.  These  were  slightly  stuc- 
coed over,  and  some  of  the  niches  appear  to  have 
been  bricked  up  with  the  view  of  strengthen- 
ing the  supports  of  the  roof.  This  would  probably 
be  on  account  of  earthquake  damage.  The 
ceiling  is  constructed  on  the  barrel  vault  principle, 
and  is  profusely  ornamented  with  stucco  reliefs 
many  of  which  are  excellent  in  design.  The 
circular  intersections  were  painted  in  bright 
colours.  At  the  further  end  of  this  apartment 
is  a  modern  iron  grating  erected  to  enclose  a 
large  bronze  brazier  and  benches,   presented  to 


.■^.j  ■— ■  ..^  jjMMaiim— ''■>-'-'*•-  ■■j..rfi«»>«ij.j|M!ia^^*fc^ 


.■■■ji^^^jffit^.jahjfaita.atert.at"'  *^^*^'^^ 


122 


POMPE I 


the  baths  by  Nigidius  Vaccula  ,    who    by    way 
of   a  quiet  pun  on    his    own    name    placed    the 
figure   of  a  heifer  upon  the  brazier,  and  heads 
of  the    same    creature    upon    the    legs    of   the 
benches.  This  hall   was  also  lighted  by  a  glazed 
window.   From  it  we  pass  into  the  Calidarium 
or  hot  chamber  which  had  a  hollow  space  beneath 
the   floor  for  the  circulation    of  the  hot  air,  as 
well  as  hollow   walls  to  raise   the   temperature. 
These  walls    are    constructed    upon  a  principle 
which  will  be  more  conveniently  observed  when 
we  reach  the  Stabian  baths.  The  hot  chamber 
was  lighted   from    above  by    day,  and  at  night 
by  a  lamp  which  stood  above  the  circular  fountain 
at  the    southern    end  of  the    room.   Upon    this 
fountain  was  a  bronze  inscription    stating    that 
it  was  erected  with  public  money  by  the  Duumvirs 
Melissaeus    and    Rufus,   and    that  it    cost    52 5o 
sestertii  or  about  fifty  pounds  sterling.    At  the 
other    end    of    the    hot    chamber    is    a    marble 
bath  which  was  used  with  hot  water,  this  cham- 
ber being  (like  the  one  in  the    Stabian    baths) 
arranged    exactly    according  to  the    rules    laid 
down  by  Vitruvius  who  was  an  architect  of  the 
Augustan    period.    The    system    of   the    water 
supply  and  the   heating    apparatus  can    still  be 
clearly  traced,    although  the  arch    which    once 
carried  the  waterpipe  across  the  street  from  the 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      1^3 


4[- 


V^i^t 


;!' 


^  rf 


neighbouring  blocks  has  fallen  in.  The  boilers 
were  on  the  upper  floor  to  which  access  was 
obtained  by  a  brick  staircase. 

The  ladies'  baths  were  at  the  north-western 
corner;  and  were  much  smaller  and  less  ornate 
than  those  we  have  already  described.  They  were 
heated  by  the  same  apparatus  and  supplied  from 
the  same  reservoir  as  those  of  the  men.  The 
actual  process  undergone  by  the  Romans  at 
their  baths  will  be  so  much  better  understood 
when  the  more  elaborate  Stabian  establishment 
is  considered,  that  we  postpone  our  observations 
on  the  method  of  their  ablutions  to  the  next 
chapter. 

The  Arch  of  Caligula  (1824),  like  that  of  Nero, 
is  now  destitute  of  all  its  ancient  ornament.  It 
was  naturally  a  little  more  ancient  than  that  of 
Nero,  which  it  resembled  in  many  respects,  for 
here  again  we  find  waterpipes  let  into  the  ma- 
sonry. On  the  top  of  it  was  a  bronze  equestrian 
statue  of  the  Emperor,  found  in  many  fragments, 
which  joined  together  may  be  seen  in  the  Na- 
ples  Museum. 

We  will  now  return  to  the  Forum  and  con- 
sider the  buildings  on  the  eastern  and  southern 
sides  of  it,  premising  however  that  differences 
of  opinion  exist  about  every  one  of  them.  The 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII     125 


tirst  on  our  left  is  known  by  three  distinct  names 
in  the  writers,  namely  the  Augusteum,  Pantheon, 
and  Macellum  (1818-22). 

Of  these  three  names  the  first  seems  to  us 
at  once  the  most  likely  and  the  most  neutral. 
The  most  likely  because  statues  of  Livia  the 
wife  of  Augustus  ,  and  of  Drusus  the  son  of 
Tiberius,  as  well  as  a  fragment  of  an  arm  hold- 
ing up  the  globe  which  was  probably  a  part  of 
a  statue  of  Augustus  were  found  in  the  shrine; 
and  the  most  neutral  because  such  a  dedication 
would  scarcely  have  interfered  with  the  coincident 
use  of  the  building  for  other  purposes.  That  it 
was  a  *  Pantheon  was  argued  from  the  tw^elve 
bases  surrounding  an  altar  in  the  centre  of  the 
Court,  which  were  supposed  to  have  supported 
statues  of  the  twelve  principal  divinities.  This 
theory  has  been  generally  abandoned,  as  also 
has  another  which  suggested  that  these  twelve 
bases  were  the  foundations  of  the  supports  of 
a  circular  temple  of  Vesta.  That  it  was  a  Ma- 
cellum or  provision  market  is  likely,  first  because 
as  we  have  already  stated  this  kind  of  mer- 
chandise was  moved  from  the  civil  fora  in  ancient 
times;  and  secondly  because  the  large  counter 
in  the  eastern  end  seems  especially  adapted  for 
the  sale  of  such  articles  as  fish  and  poultry. 
That  this  counter  was  used  as  a   Triclinium  is 


♦^■ 


J*: 


'^: 


*7       •^,, 


41 


4*  ^ 


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\hv 


obviously  an   untenable  surmise,  first  on  account^ 
of  its  being  too  narrow,  and  secondly   because 
it  slopes  inwards,   whereas  Roman  triclinia  al- 
ways sloped  outwards. 

The  eleven  chambers  on  the  southern  wall 
had  an  upper  story  and  a  wooden  gallery  run- 
ning outside  them.  Three  of  these  drain  outwards 
by  a  four  inch  pipe  which  looks  as  if  they  were 
constructed  to  be  washed  down,  and  this  sup- 
ports the  Macellum  theory.  The  market  pictures 
also  serve  to  indicate  the  use  of  the  building. 
They  consist  of  fish,  fowls  and  game  lying  ready, 
for  sale. 

The  building  was  extremely  ornate,  and  con- 
tained several  statues.  The  fagade  towards  the 
Forum  was  covered  with  marble  and  had  some 
shops  against  it,  which  are  thought  to  have  been 
those  of  money-changers  or  jewellers.  Besides 
the  principal  entrance,  the  building  had  northern 
and  southern  doors  leading  out  into  the  side 
streets,  of  which  the  northern  door  adjoined  a 
spacious  court  to  the  left  of  the  cella  ,  which 
may  have  been  used  for  banquets  connected  with 
the  rites.  In  short  we  think  it  certain  that  the 
upper  end  of  the  building  was  used  for  the 
worship  of  Augustus,  though  it  seems  that  the 
remainder  was  a  market. 


12G 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII       127 


The  Curia  Senatorum  is  the  next  building  and 
presents  nothing  remarkable.  It  was  an  apse 
with  a  half  dome  over  the  further  end,  and  a 
structure  in  the  centre  w^hich  may  have  been 
an  altar  or  rostra.  If  it  was  a  Curia  it  would 
be  the  meeting  place  of  the  Decurions,  and  as 
they  certainly  had  a  meeting  place,  and  it  was 
most  likely  to  be  in  the  Forum,  this  conjecture 
is  as  good  as  any  other.  The  building  is  now 
completely  stripped  of  its  marble,  statues,  and 
other  ornaments. 

The  Temple  of  Mercury  ^1822)  is  next  to  it.  It 
has  in  its  centre  a  marble  altar  with  a  basrelief 
representing  a  sacrifice  on  the  front  of  it,  while 
the  sides  are  decorated  with  various  sacrificial 
emblems.  The  assertion  that  it  was  built  by  the 
priestess  Mamia  and  dedicated  to  Augustus  is 
founded  upon  an  inscription  which  is  thought 
from  its  dimensions  to  have  come  from  the 
pediment  of  the  cella,  though  no  record  of  its 
discovery  exists.  The  sacrificial  emblems  on  the 
altar  are  no  guide,  for  they  would  serve  as  well 
for  the  Augustan  rites  as  for  those  of  Mercury, 
and  indeed  if  the  former  appellation  has  slender 
support,  the  latter  has  none  at  all;  unless  we 
admit  that  the  building  next  to  it  is  an  Exchange, 
in  which  case  there  may  be  some  show  of  reason 


V' 


a¥ 


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fm 


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■^i 


in  putting  the  shrine  of  Mercury,  who  was  the 
presiding  deity  of  the  financial  world  in  close 
proximity  to  the  money  market;  but  apart  from 
this  we  see  no  reason  to  assign  it  to  one  deity 
,rather  than  to  another. 

The  Exchange  of  Eumachia  (1820)  fills  up  the  re- 
maining space  between  the  temple  of  Mercury 
and  the  street  of  Abundance  ,  and  was  a  very 
handsome  building  dedicated  to  the  «  Concordia 
Aucusta  >. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  the  Arch  of  Janus 
at  Rome  was  always  open  in  time  of  war,  and 
that  Augustus  closed  it  in  token  of  the  universal 
peace  of  the  Roman   Empire  in  the    very  year 
in  which  Our  Saviour  was  born.  Horace  mentions 
the  fact  in  his  odes,  thus  showing  that    it  had 
a  hold  on  the  popular  feelings  of  his  day,  and 
this  temple  at  Pompei  was  no  doubt  dedicated 
to  commemorate  this    famous    universal    peace. 
The  front  was  faced  with  marble,  and  had  four 
statues,  two  of  which  we  learn  from  the  inscrip- 
tions were  dedicated  to  ^:neas  and  Romulus  or 
Quirinus,   the   former    having   been  the    builder 
of  the  Lavinian  city,  and  the  latter  the  founder 
both  of  Rome  and  of  the  Arch  of  Janus,  which 
Horace  calls  the   <c  Janum  Quirini  >. 

The  other  two  statues  are  thought    to  have 


128 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      PiO 


been  Julius  and  Augustus  Caesar,  the  founders 
of  the  Roman  Empire.  The  inscription  to  ^neas 
was  much  broken  but  has  been   thus    restored: 

«  ^neas  son  of  Venus  and  Anchises  brought  to  Italy 
the  survivors  of  the  Trojan  war,  built  the  Lavinian  city 
and  reigned  there  three  years.  Afterwards  when  a  battle 
had  been  fought  he  vanished  and  was  taken  into  the 
number  of  the  gods  ». 

The  inscription  to  Romuhis  was  much  more 
perfect,   and   runs  thus: 

«  Romulus  the  son  of  Mars  built  Rome  and  reigned 
thirty-eight  years.  He  slew  Aero  king  of  the  Cseninen- 
ses  and  dedicated  the  spoil  to  Jupiter  Feretrius.  When 
he  was  received  into  the  number  of  the  gods  he  was 
called  Quirinus  ». 

The  door  of  the  portico  was  decorated  with 
the  beautiful  marble  arabesques  now  in  the  Na- 
ples Museum,  representing  birds  and  diminutive 
animals  in  fine  curves  of  bold  foliage.  Passing 
through  it  we  reach  a  large  Court  which  was 
surrounded  by  a  covered  passage,  as  well  as  by 
a  cloister  of  the  usual  description  supported  by 
Corinthian  pillars.  This  was  further  decorated 
with  portraits  of  illustrious  citizens  who  had  ob- 
tained this  honour  by  a  decree  of  thq  Decurions. 


y 


T 

I 


«' 


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J 


Within  the  portico  were  various  vats  and  water 
taps,  and  as  it  was  built  by  the  public  priestess 
Eumachia,  it  is  thought  probable  that  she  per- 
mitted the  use  of  them  to  the  Fullers,  who  out 
of  gratitude  erected  in  her  honour  the  statue  of 
which  a  plaster  cast  now  stands  at  the  further 
end   of  the  buildinir- 

The  question  of  the  use  to  which  this  edifice 
was  put  is  a  difficult  one  to  decide,  but  the 
balance  of  probability  seems  to  incline  in  favour 
of  its  having  been  used  as  a  Stock  Exchange 
by  the  merchants  of  the  town.  They  would  in 
all  probability  be  turned  out  of  the  Basilica, 
where  their  conversation  interfered  seriously  with 
the  administration  of  justice,  and  no  place  could 
have  been  found  more  convenient  for  them  than 
this  one.  Here  the  money  changers  would  have 
their  seats,  and  the  commercial  business  of  the 
city  would  be  transacted.  If  it  is  asked  what 
the  Fullers  had  to  do  with  this,  the  answer  is 
that  they  were  a  wealthy  and  important  city 
guild:  for  as  the  Romans  wore  woollen  clothes 
almost  exclusively  ,  a  well  dressed  man  (and 
dress  was  a  passion  with  them)  must  have  had 
frequent  recourse  to  the  fullers,  who  being  a 
wealthy  community,  no  doubt  did  a  little  money- 
lending  and  other  financial  business  whenever 
opportunity  offered. 

9 


130 


POMPEII 


The  remaining  buildings  in  the  Forum  scarcely 
require  minute  description.. That  at  the  opposite 
•corner  of  the  Street  of  Abundance  is  called  the 
-«  School  of  Verna  >  for  no  better  reason  than 
that  this  pedagogue  and  his  pupils  wrote  up  an 
inscription  in  it,  stating  that  they  desired  one 
Capella  to  be  made  Duumvir.  This  building 
probably  used  for  holding  Comitia  or  elections 
was  decorated  with  statues  and  marble. 

No  positive  conclusion  can  be  come  to  as  to 
any  of  the  three  large  buildings  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  Forum  ,  but  it  is  tolerably  certain 
that  they  were  public  offices,  and  may  perhaps 
have  been  used  as  Courts  of  first  instance. 
There  is  no  authority  for  calling  the  centre  one 
a  treasury.  Indeed  all  we  know  about  them  is 
that  they  were  evidently  public  buildings  of 
some  kind,  and  certainly  of  a  late  period. 


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»   % 


^  A 


"V 


CHAPTER  VII 

THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII 

Second  groiip  :  The  Lesser  or  Triangular  Forum^The 
Portico  of  Vinicius^  The  Temple  of  Hercules  —  The 
Ljtdi  Gladiatorii  or  Fe7icing  School-^The  Greater  or 
Tragic  Theatre—  The  Lesser  or  Covered  Theatre—  The 
Temple  of  his  —  The  so-called  Temple  of  ^sculapius-^ 
The  Stabian  Baths. 

It  will  be  observed  on  leaving  the  Greater 
Forum  that  the  Street  of  Abundance  is  rendered 
impassable  to  carriages  by  three  large  blocks 
of  white  travertine  set  up  in  the  middle  of  the 
roadway.  These  were  of  late  period  and  their 
identity  with  the  material  which  forms  the  pa- 
vement of  the  Forum  seems  to  denote  that  they 
are  of  the  same  date.  They  show  how  jealously 
the  Romans  protected  their  principal  resort  from 
the  inconvenience  and  noise  of  wheeled  traffic. 
The  Forum  seems  in  later  times  to    have  had 


132 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      133 


no  bridle  access  at  all,  excepting-  by  the  small 
and  circuitous  street  which  leads  round  alone 
the  western  wall  of  the  town  ,  and  joins  the 
street  of  the  Sea  Gate  near  the  northern  en- 
trance of  the  Basilica.  Another  street  equally 
narrow  and  more  than  equally  circuitous  led 
into  the  south  eastern  corner,  but  this  is  com- 
pletely blocked  by  a  public  fountain.  Hence  we 
may  suppose  that  the  admission  of  carts  was 
altogether  discountenanced,  and  that  vehicles  or 
horses  were  not  allowed  in  the  Forum  except- 
ing in  cases  of  absolute  urgency. 

The  Triangular  Forum  (1769)  bears  much  the 
same  relation  to  the  second  group  of  public 
buildings  as  the  Greater  Forum  does  to  the 
first;  and  from  it  also  carriages  were  excluded. 
It  stands  upon  the  southern  wall  of  the  city, 
having  the  theatres  and  barracks  on  its  eastern 
side,  and  ordinary  dwelling  houses  to  the  west- 
ward of  it.  It  is  approached  by  a  handsome 
Ionic  portico  consisting  of  eight  massive  Nuce- 
rine  stone  columns  ,  which  have  been  so  con- 
scientiously restored  that  the  most  casual  observer 
can  at  once  distinguish  the  new  parts  from  the 
original  ones. 

This  portico  was  adorned  with  the  busts  of 
distinguished  citizens,  and  although  these  pillars 


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did  not  escape  the  general  stucco  decoration 
with  which  the  Romans  disfigured  the  ancient 
monuments  of  their  city,  this  has  vanished  from 
lapse  of  time,  and  we  see  the  columns  with 
their  charming  cornice  much  as  they  must  have 
appeared  before  they  were  tampered  with  by 
the  ignorant  fashions  of  a  degraded  age. 

This  building  was  one  of  those  discovered 
111  1769  in  some  of  the  earliest  excavations 
made  ,  and  to  this  if^cident  we  must  attribute 
the  loss  of  much  of  the  ornamentation  of  the 
portico,  and  the  fact  that  few  of  the  massive 
tiles  which  covered  it  have  been  preserved  to 
us.  No  care  whatever  seems  to  have  been  taken 
of  these  fragments ;  indeed  those  which  are  now 
set  up  were  found  heaped  together  in  a  corner, 
and  it  is  certain  that  many  pieces  which  are 
missing  were  used  for  the  repair  of  some  of  the 
neighbouring  buildings. 

Immediately  on  entering  the  triangular  en- 
closure we  encounter  the  base  of  a  statue  erected 
to  «  Marcus  Claudius  Marcellus  Patron  >,  and 
find  ourselves  at  the  apex  of  the  Forum,  which 
m  ancient  times  was  surrounded  on  the  eastern 
and  western  sides  by  a  Doric  cloister  supported 
on  a  hundred  pillars,  but  open  on  the  southern 
side  except  for  the  Temple  of  Hercules,  which 
stands  here  in  close  proximity  to  the  city  walls. 


134 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      135 


The  space  now  occupied  by  the  Forum  was 
probably  in  more  ancient  times  the  site  of  the 
sacred  grove  which  was  universally  planted  round 
the  Grecian  temples.  It  was  perhaps  owing  to 
the  presence  of  these  trees,  or  perhaps  to  the 
loftiness  of  the  sacred  edifice,  that  these  crroves 
were  so  frequently  struck  by  lightning.  Horace 
speaks  of  this  in  his  odes  when  he  says  of  Ju- 
piter that  he  «  casts  his  thunderbolts  on  the 
unchaste  groves  >  ;  and  we  shall  see  further  on 
that  a  phenomenon  of  this  description  may  perhaps 
have  occurred  on  the  very  spot  we  are  now 
describincr. 

o 

The  cloister  which  though  much  less  ancient 
than  the  temple,  dates  back  probably  to  the 
later  Samnite  times  was  stuccoed  and  painted 
by  the  Romans,  who  also  made  ways  into  it  on 
the  eastern  side  to  the  Portico  of  Vinicius  and 
the  Greater  Theatre,  as  well  as  a  flight  of  stone 
steps  which  leads  into  the  palcestra  of  the  Lu- 
dus  Gladi  torius,  or  fencinor  school. 

The  Portico  of  Vinicius  which  is  reached  by  the 
first  doorway  on  the  left,  is  an  area  surrounded 
on  three  sides  by  a  colonnade  ,  and  is  almost 
identical  in  form  with  the  School  of  Verna  in 
the  Greater  Forum.  It  was  identified  by  an  im- 
portant inscription  of  the  Samnite  period  which 


-■■"A 


■  «tejVjff*L 


<         n 


I 


states  that  Vibius  Adiranus  left  a  sum  of  mon^y 
to  the  republic  of  Pompeii  by  his  will ;  and  that 
the  Senate  of  the  city  dedicated  it  to  the  con- 
struction of  this  tribes,  (public  meeting  place?) 
at  the  time  when  Vibius  Vinicius  the  son  of 
Marius  was  Quaestor.  The  inscription  goes  on 
to  say  that  the  Quaestor  superintended  the  con- 
struction of  the  edifice,  and  approved  of  it  after 
it  was  finished. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  inscription  does 
not  tell  us  the  purpose  of  the  building  more 
exactly,  but  the  steps  in  the  centre  of  the  south- 
ern portico,  and  the  base  in  front  of  them  leave 
us  little  doubt  that  it  was  a  place  for  public 
meetings,  and  that  the  steps  we  have  mentioned 
led  up  to  a  platform,   rostra,  for  orators. 

Some  writers  have  supposed  that  the  large 
cistern  behind  this  building  was  used  for  water- 
ing the  theatre  but  it  is  obviously  too  low  for 
this  purpose  and  could  not  have  afforded  suffi- 
cient pressure  to  throw  water  on  to  any  but  the 
lower  seats. 

The  Temple  of  Hercules  (1767)  though  the  least 
perfect  of  the  ruins  of  Pompeii  is  the  most  an- 
cient and  the  most  massive  building  in  the  city 
and  was  for  ceirturies  the  most  magnificent. 

Owing  perhaps  to  its  proximity  to  the  walls, 


13() 


POMPEII 


the  temple  had  evidently  become  a  ruin  even  in 
Roman  times,  and  it  is  certain  that  they  had 
broken  up  many  of  its  colossal  stones  and  used 
them  for  the  structure  or  repair  of  their  own 
buildings.  To  appreciate  the  magnificent  position 
of  this  temple  it  is  necessary  to  mount  the  five 
lofty  steps  which  lead  up  to  its  rectangular  base. 
From  hence  the  most  charming  view  extends 
over  the  plain  of  Castellammare  and  the  hills 
of  the  Sorrentine  peninsula;  a  landscape  excep- 
tionally lovely  even  in  this  city  of  beautiful 
views. 

The  facade  of  the  temple  was  supported  by 
six  Doric  columns  of  colossal  size,  and  the  sides 
by  eleven,  (the  pillar  at  the  angle  being  counted 
twice  over).  There  is  not  a  single  column  stand- 
mg,  but  their  ancient  positions  can  be  readily 
recognised.  Three  altars  were  found  to  the  North- 
east of  the  temple;  and  just  beyond  the  steps 
of  its  eastern  front  is  a  rectangular  enclosure 
like  a  large  dust  bin,  in  which  the  refuse  of  the 
sacrifices  was  deposited. 

Beyond  this,  but  to  the  left  of  it,  is  a  pretty 
little  building  in  the  Doric  style  and  of  early 
date,  built  according  to  the  Oscan  inscription, 
by  Numerius  Trebius.  We  do  not  know  why 
this  building  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  Biden- 
tal\  a  name  given  to  any  spot  which  had  been 


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THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      137 


struck  by  lightning,  because  a  bidens  or  sheep 
was  sacrificed  there.   Such  enclosures  were  holy 
ground  and   might  not  be  trodden  upon.  Cicero 
informs  us  that  the  Duumvir  Erennius  was  killed 
by  lightning  on  a  clear  day  at  Pompeii,  but  the 
construction  of  this  building  is  evidently  anterior 
to  the  institution  of  Duumvirs  at  Pompeii,  con- 
sequently   it    could    not     record     the    death    of 
Erennius.   Overbeck  asserts  most  positively  that 
it  was  merely  a  well  or  cistern  to  provide  water 
for  the    use  of    the  temple;    and  though    Dyer 
says  that  its  construction  warrants  either  theory, 
the  less  romantic    explanation    seems  so    much 
more  probable    that    we    have  no    hesitation   in 
pronouncing  for  it. 

On  the  West  of  the  temple  is  a  semicircular 
stone  seat  in  admirable  preservation,  which  had 
a  sundial  upon  it,  and  an  inscription  recording 
the  names  of  the  Duumvirs  who  had  erected  it 
at  their  own  expense. 

The  above  gives  in  a  few  practical  words  all 
we  can  gather  from  the  ruins  of  the  temple,  but 
it  is  obvious  that  in  the  days  ofits  magnificence 
it  was  equal  to  the  Paestum  temples  ,  and  the 
problem  of  its  destruction  still  remains  unsolved. 
And  this  problem  can  be  solved  only  by  con- 
jecture. Had  the  building  been  thrown  down  by 
the  63  earthquake,  we  can  easily  imagine   that 


138 


POMPEII 


the  Romas  of  that  day  who  knew  nothing  and 
cared  less  about  art,  would  have  broken  up  the 
stones  to  repair  their  houses  with  the  fragments ; 
but  asrainst  this  we  must  set  the  fact  that  most 

o 

of  the  rebuilding  after  this  disaster  was  in  brick 
and  not  in  stone  ,  and  that  the  ruins  of  the 
buildings  themselves  would  generally  provide 
stone  enough  for  the  purpose  of  filling  in  bet- 
ween brick  coigns  and  mullions. 

That  the  wall  of  the  Isiac  Curiae  was  built  of 
stone  fragments  is  obvious  enough,  but  again 
it  must  be  remembered  that  it  was  originally 
built  of  stone  ,  and  that  the  present  temple  of 
Isis  was  rebuilt  from  its  foundations  mainly  no 
doubt  of  the  materials  on  the  spot. 

Hence  we  strongly  suspect  that  the  destruction 
of  the  Temple  of  Hercules  occurred  a  long  time 
before  63  and  a  long  time  before  building  w^ith 
bricks  was  usual  at  Pompeii.  We  are  inclined 
to  conjecture  that  the  building  was  a  ruin  before 
the  siege  of  Sulla,  but  how  it  became  a  ruin  is 
another  matter.  Such  a  "building  would  certainly 
not  fall  to  pieces  of  itself,  any  more  than  the 
Temples  of  Paestum  have  fallen,  and  even  if  it 
did,  we  should  expect  that  some  traces  of  such 
massive  stone-work  would  surely  be  visible  in 
in  the  buildings  repaired  with  it.  It  is  possible 
of  course  that  the  remains  of  the  temple    were 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      139 


*1 


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<j^i 


*^i 

¥ 


f 

I 


used  to  build  the  theatre,  but  one  cannot  help 
wondering  why  the  base  with  the  stones  hewn 
ready  to  hand  was  not  used,  instead  of  the  pil- 
lars which  must  have  been  broken  up  before 
they  could  be  adapted  to  an  ordinary  building. 
We  must  be  content  to  class  this  problem  among 
the  many  difficulties  which  further  excavation 
may  some  day  clear  up  for  us. 

The  Ludus  Gladiatorius  (1764-69;  1793-96)  or 
fencing  school,  is  situated  at  the  bottom  of  a 
flight  of  stone  steps  which  leads  from  the  Trian- 
gular Forum  to  the  level  of  the  pit  of  the  Greater 
Theatre. 

The  inscriptions  upon  the  walls  leave  no  doubt 
of  the  use  of  the  building,  as  they  consist  of 
programmes  of  the  entertainments  in  the  amphi- 
theatre, eulogies  of  persons  who  caused  them 
to  be  held,  and  a  vow  by  a  gladiator  to  Venus 
if  his  arms  proved  successful.  Fiorelli  thinks  that 
the  Ludus  was  once  merely  an  open  space  including 
the  site  upon  which  the  theatres  now  stand ; 
that  the  gladiators  were  travelling  performers, 
who  went  from  town  to  town  after  the  manner 
of  a  modern  circus;  and  that  when  they  reached 
Pompeii  they  encamped  upon  this  space.  Barracks 
were  subsequently  erected  for  them  when  they 
became  a  resident  part  of  th^   community,  and 


140 


POMPEII 


here  they  were  regularly  trained  for  the  games 
of  the  Amphitheatre. 

The    barrack    square    was    surrounded    by  a 
portico    of    Doric    pillars    (afterwards    stuccoed 
and  painted)  the  bases  of  which    were    painted 
red,   with  the    exception    of  the    central    pillars 
which  were  blue,  and  were  probably  intended  to 
divide  the  area  into  four  equal  parts  by  imagi- 
nary lines,  for  some  purpose  connected  with  the 
training  of  the   men.   No  traces  of  this    diverse 
painting  are  now  discernible.  There  was  a  very 
large    kitchen    in    the    building,    in    which    the 
enormous  bronze  boiler   now   in  the  Naples  Mu- 
seum,  was  found.   This    was    probably    used  to 
make  \\\%  gladiatoria  sagina,  a  kind  of  porridge 
upon  which  the  men  were  fed.   Many  skeletons 
were  found  in  the  building  which  Dyer  conjec- 
tures to  be  the  remains  of  gladiators  who  were 
wounded,  and  unable  to    escape.  Here    too  the 
stocks  (now  at  Naples)  were  discovered.  In  these 
were  the  skeletons  of  two  men  who  were  undergo- 
ing this  particularly  unpleasant  form  of  punishment, 
and  who  were   evidently    forgotten  at    the  time 
of  the  disaster. 

The  upper  floor  consisted  of  sleeping  rooms, 
but  as  these  have  been  adapted  to  modern  uses, 
they  do  not  afford  much  scope  for  study.  The 
pamtmgs  m  the  exhedra  or  parlour  were    very 


\ 


\:< 


«) 


«  ^1 


<'J 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      141 


fine  and  represented  trophies  of  gladiatorial  arms; 
and  it  is  here  that  the  splendid  bronze  helmets, 
shields,  greaves  and  armour  now^  in  the  Naples 
Museum,  were  found.  These  arms  were  evidently 
not  intended  for  use,  and  if  they  were  not  prizes 
for  successful  combatants,  they  were  «  show 
arms  >  for  wearing  in  the  processions  which 
usually  formed  the  opening  spectacle  of  the 
combats  in  the  arena. 

The  fencing  schools  of  Roman  times  were 
presided  over  by  a  lanista  ,  who  stood  to  the 
gladiators  in  the  same  position  as  a  trainer 
to  a  modern  pugilist.  The  men  were  brought  into 
the  most  perfect  bodily  training  by  special  food 
and  abundant  exercise.  Their  points  and  paces 
were  scrutinised  by  their  patrons  just  as  sport- 
ing men  criticise  the  form  and  gallop  of  a  fa- 
vourite racehorse,  and  the  betting  upon  the 
contests  ran  high  when  well-known  combatants 
were  matched  together. 

The  passion  for  this  kind  of  amusement  seems 
to  have  risen  to  a  great  height  in  southern  Italy, 
as  we  find  a  very  large  number  of  amphitheatres 
within  a  short  distance  of  Naples,  of  which  we  may 
instance  those  of  Pozzuoli,  Cumae,  and  Posilipo 
only  a  very  few  miles  from  one  another,  not  to 
mention  the  celebrated  arena  of  Capua  where  the 
Venus  Victrix  and  the  Psyche  were  discovered. 


jiJ-jtijJMM'alfaiMk.MJ, 


142 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII     143 


The  Theatres  of  Pompeii  adjoin  the  barracks,  and 
give  us  a  capital  idea  of  the  buildings  in  which 
the  ancients  enacted  their  dramas. 

To  understand  them  it  is  necessary  to  know 
a  little  of  the  history  of  the  Roman  stage  and 
its  development. 

That  the  Etruscans  were  very  fond  of  the 
drama  is  certain;  that  they  had  stone  theatres 
is  by  no  means  equally  sure;  for  modern  research 
has  decided  that  the  theatre  at  Fiesole  ,  and 
other  similar  buildings  in  Italy  ,  long  attri- 
buted to  the  Etruscans,  were  in  fact  Roman. 
Whether  or  not,  it  seems  certain  that  the  stone 
theatre  was  a  late  introduction  into  Rome,  and 
that  the  earliest  Roman  theatres  were  built  of 
wood.  Pliny  describes  the  wooden  theatre  of 
Scaurus  at  Rome,  built  in  58  b.  c,  as  a  splendid 
edifice  with  a  stage  in  three  stories  ,  of  which 
the  lower  one  was  marble,  the  second  glass,  and 
the  upper  of  gilded  woodwork;  but  the  first  stone 
theatre  was  built  by  Pompey  in  55  b.  c.  andappears 
to  have  been  the  earliest  stone  theatre  in  Italy. 

The  Roman  theatre  though  different  from  that 
of  the  Greeks  seems  certainly  to  have  been  de- 
rived from  it,  the  main  variation  being  that  the 
actors  in  Roman  times  were  brought  much  nearer 
to  the  audience.  The  reason  for  this  would  pro- 
bably be  that  the  Greeks  depended  more  upon 


♦ 


^     Wf^'/'i , 


•^^ 

V 


^  * 


^ 


1 


scenic  effect  for  the  success  of  their  dramatic 
performance,  and  the  Romans  more  upon  the 
words  being  distinguishable. 

The  play  of  Medea  seems  to  have  been  a 
favourite  one  in  Roman  times,  and  Seneca's  Latin 
version  of  it  may  perhaps  have  been  played. 
We  notice  it  frequently  in  the  frescoes  and  es- 
pecially in  the  vestibule  of  the  House  of  the 
Centenary,  where  the  scene  seems  certainly  to 
have  been  taken  from  the  stage,  and  not  from 
the  legend.  Horace  again  in  his  Ars  Poetica 
(when  he  says  that  the  climax  of  the  tragedy 
must  be  left  to  the  imagination  ,  and  must  not 
be  enacted  upon  the  stage)  cites  the  Greek  play 
of  Medea  and  not  one  of  the  current  Roman 
dramas.  He  says  «  Medea  must  not  slay  her 
boys  in  the  sight  of  the  audience  >;  and  he 
would  not  have  selected  this  incident  bad  it  not 
been  that  the  play  was  well-known  to  his  readers; 
nor  would  he  have  given  the  caution  against 
the  perpetration  of  horrors  upon  the  scene,  had 
this  not  been  a  tendency  of  his  time  which  he 
thought  it  in  the  interests  of  dramatic  art  to  re- 
primand  sternly. 

That  dramatic  art  was  in  decadence  in  the 
Pompeian  age  is  manifest  from  the  contemporary 
writers,  though  we  can  gather  nothing  on  the 
subject  from  the  theatres  themselves. 


144 


POMPEII 


Assuming  that  the  space  occupied  by  these 
and  by  the  Lndi  gladiatorii  was  once  a  mere 
open  Square,  we  may  fairly  gather  that  wooden 
theatres  were  erected  upon  it  before  the  fashion 
of  stone  ones  came  in,  and  that  when  stone 
theatres  were  in  vogue  ,  the  Pompeians  took 
advantage  of  the  slope  of  the  ground  at  the  nor- 
thern end  of  the  square  to  erect  their  theatres 
(as  was  the  Roman  custom)  upon  the  hillside, 
and  facing  the  South. 

The  Greater  or  Tragic  Theatre  {\l(^^\  1793-96)  of 
Pompeii  stood  with  its  back  to  the  curice  of  the 
temple  of  Isis,  and  its  walls  were  abundantly 
scribbled  upon  by  the  patrons  of  the  drama. 

Upon  them  was  an  inscription  rudely  scratched 
which  was  appealed  to  for  some  time  as  evidence 
of  Christianity  having  existed  in  Pompeii.  This 
supposition  was  rudely  dispelled  when  the  whole 
inscription  was  read.  It  is  as  follows:  <(  Methe 
Cominia  the  Atellan  loves  Crestus  ».  Thus  far 
perhaps  the  Christian  interpreters  were  justified 
in  their  conjecture ;  but  the  conclusion  of  the 
document  must  have  been  a  severe  shock  to 
their  feelings.  It  runs,  <  May  the  Venus  of  Pom- 
peii abide  in  their  hearts  ,  and  may  they  ever 
live  happily  together  >.  Justin  Martyr  in  his  first 
Apology    Chapter  IV    makes    a  play    upon  the 


L( 


) 


^ 


^ » 


i> 


THE  PUBLIC  BUTLBTNGS  OF  POMPEII     145 

words  XpfoToc  (Christ)  and  Xpi^oro?  (Excellent), 
The  latter  was  probably  the  name  of  the  Pom- 
peian. 

The  theatre  dates  from  the  time  of  Augustus, 
and  was  built  by  Marcus  Artorius  at  the  expense 
of  the  brothers  Holconius  ,  whose  statues  un- 
doubtedly stood  upon  the  stage,  just  as  those  of 
the  Balbi  stood  on  the  stage  at  Herculaneum. 
It  would  appear  from  the  numerous  inscriptions 
relating  to  the  Holconii,  that  every  time  they 
obtained  a  new  political  office,  a  new  mscription 
was  placed  under  their  statues,  and  the  old  one 
put  on  one  side,  because  as  these  portraits  were 
erected  at  the  public  expense  ,  it  is  not  likely 
that  there  would  have  been  in  a  sirrsrle  build- 
ing  as  many  statues  of  these  brothers  as  would 
account  for  the  large  number  of  fragments  of 
inscriptions  discovered  in  the  theatre  alluding  to 
them,  but  bearing  different  titles. 

.The  stage  was  provided  w^ith  three  exits  ac- 
cording to  rule,  all  being  placed  in  the  back; 
and  was  decorated  with  numerous  statues  ,  of 
which  only  the  pedestals  remain.  Such  a  stage 
would  be  inconveniently  narro#  to  our  ideas, 
but  Horace  lays  down  the  rule  that  only  three 
actors  should  appear  on  the  stage  at  one  time, 
and  that  if  for  any  reason  a  fourth  were  intro- 
duced, he  should  on  no  account  be   allowed  to 

10 


14G 


POMPEII 


speak.  And  we  think  that  our  modern  experience 
bears  out  this  doctrine,  for  nothing  is  more  dif- 
ficult to  execute  satisfactorily  on  the  modern 
stage  than  a  scene  in  which  many  performers 
are  on  the  boards  at  the   same  time. 

The  large  trench  in  front  of  the  stage  was  for 
the  curtain,  which  was  lowered  into  it  at  the 
commencement  of  the  performance  and  raised  at 
the  conclusion  of  it;  thus  reversino-  the  method 
which  our  superior  mechanical  arrangements 
have  enabled  us  to  adopt. 

The  semicircle  in  front  of  the  curtain  would 
be  devoted  to  the  orchestra  whose  name  it  bore. 
The  magnates  of  the  city  sat  upon  the  lower 
rows,  each  upon  his  bisellium  ,  w^hich  was  no 
doubt  brought  down  by  his  slaves  when  their 
master  intended  to  witness  the  performance.  A 
centre  seat  in  a  conspicuous  position  was  allotted 
to  the  Holconii  as  founders  of  the  theatre,  and 
an  inscription  may  be  seen  on  the  site  of  it. 
This  w^as  once  in  bronze  letters  ,  but  now  ap- 
pears as  if  cut  into  the  marble,  and  records  their 
titles  and  bounty. 

The  Audttorimn  of  the  theatre  is  reckoned 
to  have  held  about  5ooo  people,  an  estimate 
which  allows  about  thirteen  inches  to  each 
spectator.  Numbers  may  still  be  found  carved 
on    some    of   the    seats.     These    were    divided 


r^ 


•* 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEH      147 


horizontally  into  twenty-nine  tiers,  which  were 
arranged  in  three  divisions,  the  occupants  of 
each  division  being  determined  by  a  statute  of 
Augustus,  according  to  their  rank.  The  seats 
were  further  divided  vertically  into  five  wedges 
by  the  stairways  which  led  up  between  them. 
The  whole  theatre  was  surrounded  by  an  arched 
crypt  which  gave  access  to  the  galleries  by  inner 
staircases.  On  the  inner  side  of  the  upper  row 
are  large  blocks  of  stone  ,  pierced  by  square 
holes.  These  were  the  sockets  for  masts  which 
upheld  the  awnings  to  protect  the  spectators 
from  the  sun.  These  awnings  w^ere  an  invention 
of  the  Campanians ,  and  any  one  who  has 
experienced  the  extreme  difficulty  of  stretch- 
ing an  awning  over  a  large  surface  must  appre- 
ciate their  ingenuity.  The  method  used  can  be 
seen  in  the  fresco  of  the  Nucerine  riot  to  which 
we  shall  allude  in  our  description  of  the  Am- 
phitheatre. 

The  Smaller  or  Comic  Theatre  (1769;  1793)  seems 
to  have  been  begun  about  2  5  b.  c.  by  the 
Duumvirs  Valgus  and  Porcius  who  erected  it  to 
the  order  of  the  Decurions  or  Town  Council. 
It  is  a  small  building  and  we  know  that  it  was 
roofed  in,  because  the  inscription  speaks  of  it 
as  the   <  covered    theatre  ».   That  it    was    com- 


148 


POMPEI 


pletely  roofed  in  is  unlikely,  because  that  would 
have  rendered  it  inconveniently  dark  ,  and  that 
It  was  artificially  lighted  and  used  at  night  is 
extremely  improbable.  We  may  therefore  con- 
clude that  the  spectators  were  protected  from 
the  sun  by  a  permanent  penthouse  which  served 
the  purpose  of  the  more  expensive  and  trouble- 
some awnings  which  were  necessary  in  the  case 
of  the  tragic  theatre. 

The  roof  appears  to  have  been  shattered  in 
the  63  earthquake,  and  a  quantity  of  new  tiles 
placed  by  the  walls  of  the  green-room  justifies 
the  conclusion  that  it  was  being  rebuilt  at  the 
time  of  the  destruction  of  the  city. 

The  orchestra  was  paved  with  coloured  mar- 
bles, and  an  inscription  in  bronze  letters  states  that 
Marcus  Oculatius  Verus  the  Duumvir,  presented 
it  to  the  town  pro  ludis,  that  is  to  say  instead 
of  giving  them  public  games  on  his  accession 
to  ofiflce.  The  inscription  is  in  the  Naples  Mu- 
seum but  it  has  been  wrongly  restored,  the 
name  of  Holconius  having  been  substituted  for 
that  of  Verus.  It  is  notable  that  the  games  after 
the  election  seem  to  have  been  a  recognised 
right  of  the  people,  but  one  cannot  help  reflect- 
ing that  the  paving  of  the  theatre  must  have 
been  cheaper  than  a  show  in  the  Amphitheatre, 
and  have  pleased  the  public  in  a  less  degree. 


i*i^£jK 


Ik 


i.. 


1^"' 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      149 

The  building  is  much  less  important  than  its 
larger  neighbour,  and  was  evidently  devoted  to 
low  comedy  played  probably  in  the  Oscan  dialect, 
with  the  clever  fool  of  Atella  as  its  leading 
character.  As  this  buffoon  is  so  frequently  re- 
presented on  the  later  Greek  vases,  and  survives 
to  this  day  as  the  central  figure  of  Neapolitan 
low  comedy,  we  may  confidently  assume  that 
he  has  kept  his  place  ever  since  in  the  Latin 
race,  while  the  existence  of  many  persons  much 
more  useful  has  been  unrecorded  ,  and  many 
institutions  apparently  much  more  stable  have 
vanished. 

The  Temple  of  Isis  (1764-65)  and  its  Curiae  fill 
up  the  corner  behind  the  theatre,  and  concerning 
them  there  is  no  doubt  whatever,  for  they  are 
among  the  few  discoveries  of  the  earlier  exca- 
vators of  which  a  comprehensive  record  was  kept. 

The  principal  inscription  is  as  follows: 

N  .  POPIDIVS  .  N  .  F  .  CELSINUS 

.^DEM  .  ISIDIS  .  TERR.«  .  MOTU  .  CONLAPSAM 

A  .  FVNDAMENTO.  P  .  S .  RESTITUIT  .  HVNC  .  DECVRIONES 

OB  .  LIBERALITATEM 
CVM  .  ESSEX  .  ANNORUM  .  SEXS  .  ORDINE  .  SUO  .  GRATIS 

ADLEGERUNT 


A<Mih.MiWMtM«fcuiaiajjij-.:Jaail»iiB»i^ti&hJMfeai.*jiMaiij«*^Mii»Mji^*aiaMa^ 


150 


POMPEII 


Numerius  Popidius  Celsinus,  the  son  of  Numerius  re- 
stored from  its  foundation  and  at  his  own  cost  the  house 
of  Isis  which  had  fallen  down  in  an  earthquake.  The 
Decurions  elected  him  a  member  of  their  body,  without 
fee  on  account  of  his  liberality,  when  he  was  six  years 
of  age. 

The  translation  of  this  inscription  has  been 
very  much  disputed,  but  there  can  be  little  doubt 
that  the  above  is  correct.  Numerius  the  father 
was  probably  a  freedman,  and  consequently  not 
eligible  for  municipal  honours.  His  son  Celsinus 
being  born  of  free  parents  was  under  no  disa- 
bility and  the  compliment  of  making  the  child 
a  Decurion  was  accordingly  paid  to  the  wealthy 
freedman. 

Again,  the  inscription  tells  us  that  the  build- 
ing had  been  destroyed  by  the  earthquake,  and 
rebuilt  from  its  foundations.  Consequently  this 
is  the  most  recent  of  all  the  temples  of  the  town, 
and  gives  us  an  excellent  idea  of  the  style  of 
the  day,  although  it  has  been  stripped  of  its 
ornaments,  and  has  contributed  as  many  important 
specimens  to  the  Naples  Museum  as  any  build- 
ing in  the  town. 

An  altar  dedicated  to  Isis  may  be  seen  in  the 
basement  of  the  Museum,  near  the  marble  sta- 
tue of  the  goddess  wearing  a  gilt  necklace  with 
half-moon  pendant,  holding  the  key  with  which 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII     151 


'► 


J 


she  regulated  the  flow  of  the  Nile,  and  a  Sistrum 
or  bronze  rattle  ,  with  which  her  worshippers 
used  to  celebrate  her  rites.  This  statue  was 
placed  in  the  temple  of  Isis  at  the  public  expense 
but  was  not  the  main  image  of  the  goddess, 
which  is  described  as  having  been  of  wood, 
with  marble  head  and  hands,  and  cloth  drapery. 
We  are  not  aware  that  any  remains  of  this 
statue  are  extant. 

Two  columns  of  Egyptian  breccia  with  bronze 
Ibises  upon  them  (also  in  the  Museum)  stood 
at  the  foot  of  the  steps  of  the  shrine.  Near  it 
was  an  Isiac  tablet  of  alabastrine  stone,  repre- 
senting thirteen  figures  worshipping  Osiris,  hav- 
ing beneath  them  an  inscription  in  hieroglyphics 
to  the  divinities  of  the  upper  and  lower  regions. 

The  beautiful  bronze  laver  inlaid  with  silver 
and  red  mastic  also  came  from  this  temple,  as 
did  the  arabesques  in  the  first  gallery  of  the 
fresco  department,  and  the  fine  paintings  of  the 
legends  of  lo.  But  perhaps  the  most  interesting, 
and  certainly  the  most  unique  of  the  trophies 
are  the  frescoes  representing  the  Isiac  rites,  on 
the  compartments  xxi  and  xxii  in  the  Museum, 
which  are  thought  by  some  to  represent  the 
morning  and  evening  worship. 

The  whole  temple  was  a  glow  of  bright 
colours,  but  as  it  was  excavated    more    than  a 


152 


POMPEII 


hundred  years  ago,  such  of  its  paintings  as  were 
not  removed  to  the  Museum  have  perished  upon 
its  walls,  and  are  indistinguishable.  The  build- 
ing is  a  small  shrine  standing  in  a  pillared  court, 
beneath  the  cloister  of  which  w^ere  several  altars 
for  various  rites;  and  such  Egyptian  subjects  as 
the  dog-headed  Anubis,  and  the  childgod  Har- 
pakhrat,  the  Egyptian  type  of  perpetual  youth 
and  the  rising  sun.  His  festival  was  held  at  the 
winter  solstice  ,  and  is  believed  to  have  been 
the  original  cause  of  our  selection  of  the  2  5th 
of  December  for  Christmas  day.  The  pillars  of 
the  shrine  were  of  the  Corinthian  order,  and  a 
brick  structure  within  it  is  thought  by  some 
writers  to  have  been  used  in  connection  with 
oracular  trickery,  but  this  seems  to  us  unlikely, 
because  there  is  no  attempt  at  concealment, 
which  we  may  suppose  to  have  been  a  neces- 
sary accompaniment  of  mummery  of  this  kind. 
The  doors  of  the  temple  closed  on  the  inside, 
and  the  priests  had  a  separate  exit  on  the  left. 
The  main  altar  stood  in  the  Court  at  the  foot 
of  the  steps  of  the  shrine,  and  behind  it  is  a 
small  building  with  steps  leading  down  into  what 
may  have  been  a  cellar  in  the  basement  of  the 
temple.  The  square  brick  building  beneath  which 
Fontana's  acqueduct  now  runs,  was  formerly  the 
place  where  the  remains  of  the   sacrifices    used 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      153 


► 


1 


r 


w> 


} 


•»f 


to  be  thrown,  and  many  burnt  fruits  and  similar 
objects  were  found  in  k.  Tlie  handsome  hall  at 
the  back  of  the  shrine  served  no  doubt  for  ini- 
tiations ,  and  led  to  tlie  priests'  apartments  at 
the  back.  The  legend  which  asserts  that  the 
skeleton  of  a  priest  who  was  having  his  dinner, 
and  that  of  another  who  had  cut  his  way  through 
the  wall  were  found  here,  is  one  of  the  many 
little  romances  which  have  grown  up  around  the 
ruins. 

The  Temple  of  ^sculapius  (1766)  is  by  far  the 
smallest  of  the  public  buildings  of  Pompeii,  but 
it  is  not  wanting  in  interest,  especially  to  tlic 
architect,  on  account  of  the  grotesque  character 
of  its  stonework. 

Its  dedication  to  ^-Esculapius  is  extremely 
doubtful  ,  and  if  it  derived  its  name  only  from 
the  terracotta  statue  now  in  the  Naples  Museum 
the  name  is  certainly  wrong,  as  the  statue  re- 
presents Jupiter,  and  the  companion  statue  Juno. 
They  are  we  believe  the  largest  ancient  terra- 
cotta statues  extant  in  perfect  condition,  but  there 
can  be  little  doubt  that  they  do  not  represent 
yKsculapius  and  his  daughter   Hygieia.*  In  our 

*  The  legend  of  ^sctifapius  is  so  little  known  that 
it  may  be  worth  while  to  mention  that  he  was  supposed 
to  be  the  son  of  Apollo,  who  sent  him  to  the  Centaur 


154 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII     155 


description  of  the  Stabian  Gate  we  shall  show 
our  reasons  for  conjecturing  that  this  is  the  shrine 
of  the  Meilichian  Jupiter  which  is  mentioned  in 
the  inscription  found  under  that  Gate.  Fiorelli 
mentions  a  shrine  of  the  Meilichian  Jupiter 
built  by  the  Greeks  in  the  purest  Doric 
style,  but  does  not  tell  us  where  it  is;  and  we 
confess  our  inability  to  identify  it  by  this  (de- 
scription. Further  on  he  speaks  of  a  similar 
shrine  as  probably  existing  near  the  Sta- 
bian Gate  and  upon  the  Via  Pompeiana.  As 
however  he  calls  the  little  temple  we  are  con- 
sidering the  Temple  of  ^Zsculapius,  we  think  he 
excludes  our  conjecture  that  this  is  the  shrine 
of  the  Meilichian  Jupiter,  though  it  is  to  be  ob- 
served that  he  gives  it  the  name  of  «  Temple 
of  ^sculapius,  Hygieia,  Jupiter,  Juno,  and  Pria- 
pus  >  in  his  index,  thus  admitting  a  degree  of 
uncertainty  as  to  its  dedication. 

The  Stabian  Baths  (i 855-58)  which  we  take  last 

Chiron  to  be  educated.  Chiron  was  the  legendary  doctor 
of  men  and  horses,  and  taught  him  medicine,  ^sculapius 
after  many  legendary  adventures  landed  on  the  insula 
Tiberina  (in  the  Tiber  at  Rome)  in  the  form  of  a  serpent 
which  hence  became  his  emblem.  A  statue  of  him  was 
found  upon  this  island  in  a  temple  dedicated  to  him. 
The  statue  passed  into  the  Farnese  collection  ,  and  is 
now  in  the  Naples  Museum. 


a 


f 


) 


in  this  group  of  public  buildings  ,  stand  at  the 
corner  of  the  streets  of  Abundance  and  of  Sta- 
biae,  and  are  the  best  preserved  of  the  numerous 
Roman  baths  in  Europe.  Here  we  see  the  build- 
ing in  which  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  Pompeii 
passed  the  greater  part  of  their  day.  These  baths 
were  the  centre  of  the  social  life  of  the  town, 
and  though  they  cannot  compete  for  magnificence 
either  of  structure  or  decoration  with  the  Baths 
of  Caracalla  at  Rome,  their  perfect  preservation 
has  enabled  us  to  understand  a  Roman  bathing 
establishment  as  no  other  similar  ruins  have 
ever  done  before. 

As  we  have  given  a  very  complete  description 
of  the  Forum  Baths  in  the  preceding  chapter, 
we  purpose  in  this  instance  to  treat  of  the  Ro- 
man bath  in  a  more  general  manner,  and  to 
follow  the  bather  through  the  various  processes 
he  underwent  in  the  course  of  an  afternoon  vi- 
sit to  this  establishment. 

Before  doing  this  it  will  be  advisable  to 
enter  a  little  into  the  history  of  Roman  ablutions, 
as  these  were  subject  to  that  general  law  of  de- 
velopment which  Professor  Darwin  has  taught 
us  rules  all  mundane  affairs. 

Seneca  tells  us  that  the  ancient  Romans  (by 
which  he  means  those  before  the  Empire)  washed 
their  legs    and    arms    daily  ,    and    their    bodies 


156 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      157 


occasionally  only.  This  would  be  accounted  for 
by  these  members  being  bare,  and  exposed  to 
the  effects  of  mingled  dust  and  perspiration.  We 
may  presume  that  their  faces  shared  in  the  daily 
ablution,  although  the  philosopher  does  not  in- 
clude them. 

For  washing  of  this  kind  no  public  institution 
was  necessary,   and  we  are  left  in  the  dark    as 
to  the    exact    period    when  public    baths    were 
introduced.    But  whenever  it  was,  there    can  be 
no  doubt  that  the    unwritten  law    with    respect 
to  private  baths,    exacted  great    prudery   in  the 
matter.  A  father  might  not  bathe  with  his  son 
if  he  were  beyond  the  age  of  absolute  boyhood, 
and  the  notion  of  a  public  bath  open  to  the  male 
sex  indiscriminately,  would  have  been  indignantly 
scouted.   Time,  and  the  growing  desire  of  clean- 
liness and  comfort  overcame  all  conventionalities 
of  this  kind,  and  no  patrician's  villa   was  com- 
plete unless    it  had    what    we  call    a   «  Turkish 
bath  >,  belonging  to  it.  But  the  bath  which  growing 
civilisation  had  made  a  necessity  of  that  personal 
cleanliness  which  always  follows  in  the  train  of 
higher  culture,  soon  became  a  pleasure,  and  the 
desire  for  it  spread   downwards  from    the  class 
w^ho  could  afford  it,  to  the  class  who  could  not. 
This  necessitated  public  baths  for  the  lower  or- 
ders,  and  in  time  it  was  found  that  the  heating 


l^ 


r- 


4 


V 


and  arrangement  of  the  public  baths  were  far 
superior  to  those  in  private  houses.  The  one 
could  be  enjoyed  at  any  time,  the  other  needed 
long  preparation  and  cosdy  appliances.  English- 
men, not  yet  middle-aged,  can  remember  the  time 
when  in  an  ordinary  English  household  a  hot 
bath  was  not  procurable  without  a  good  deal  of 
notice.  How  much  more  then  must  the  Roman 
middle  classes  have  felt  the  difficulty  with  no- 
thing in  their  houses  that  we  should  dignify  with 
the  name  of  a  fire  ?  Hence  even  wealthy  men 
began  to  use  the  public  baths,  and  the  ladies 
rapidly  followed   suit. 

.  That  the  ladies  must  have  a  separate  estab- 
lishment of  their  own  required  no  argument; 
that  it  would  save  trouble  to  heat  it  from  the 
same  bci'ers  as  that  of  the  gentlemen  was  also 
self-evident,  so  an  annexe  for  ladies  w^as  added 
to  the  existing  baths,  and  as  in  most  cases  these 
had  already  almost  filled  up  all  the  available 
space,  the  ladies'  baths  were  usually  crowded 
up  into  a  corner. 

That  the  ladies  resented  the  fact  of  their  baths 
being  inferior  to  those  of  the  gendemen  is  proved 
by  a  curious  story  told  by  Aulius  Gellius,  who 
says  that  a  lady  who  was  the  wife  of  a  Consul 
at  Teanum  insisted  on  bathing  in  the  more 
sumptuous    side    of    the    edifice,    and  that    the 


Willi- Mr  tf- 


158 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  01'  POiMPEII     159 


Quaestor  in  consequence  turned  the  men  out  to 
gratify  her  caprice  ! 

The  pleasure  of  the  bath  was  now  enjoyed 
by  both  sexes  with  complete  propriety,  but  in 
the  later  Pompeian  time  the  luxury  of  the  bath 
had  begun  to  declare  itself,  and  though  we  find 
the  sexes  still  separated,  we  cannot  help  noti- 
cing that  the  separation  in  the  Forum  baths  was 
much  nearer  absolute  than  that  in  the  Stabian 
establishment,  and  we  are  led  to  speculate  that 
the  separation  contemplated  in  the  incomplete 
baths  of  the  street  of  Nola  would  have  been 
still  less  discernible. 

At  any  rate  Hadrian,  who  died  barely  forty 
years  after  the  destruction  of  Pompeii,  made  a 
law^  forbidding  promiscuous  bathing,  so  that  we 
may  be  sure  that  the  custom  existed  in  his  time. 

Originally  the  baths  were  open  only  from 
sunrise  to  sunset,  but  the  numerous  lamps  found 
in  the  Pompeian  bathing  establishments  lead  us 
to  infer  that  they  at  least  were  open  after  night- 
fall. Having  thus  traced  the  rise  and  decline  of 
the  Roman  bath,  we  can  only  wonder  how  it 
arose  that  an  institution  which  when  properly 
carried  on  was  so  beneficial  and  so  pleasant, 
should  have  utterly  vanished  from  the  country. 
It  seems  to  have  lasted  in  Italy  till  about  460 
A.   D.    when     all    trace    of  it    disappears  in    the 


%• 
\ 


» 


^ 


4 


%y 


'A 


r-.M^ 


Western  Empire,  although  the  Romans   clearly 
introduced  it  into  their  Eastern  Empire,   where 
it  still  remains  one  of  the  great    institutions  of 
the  country,  as  any  traveller  in  Turkey  will  have 
noticed.   From  hence  it  has  travelled    westward 
again,    so  that  it  may  be  truly  said. that  Rome 
is  the  mother  of  the  modern  <  Turkish   Bath  >. 
Let  us  now  pass  on  to  consider  how  these  gor- 
geous establishments  were  used  by  their  custom- 
ers.  Here,   first  of  all  we  must  make  allowance 
for  that  variety  of  taste    which    influenced  the 
people  of  Pompeii,  just  as  much  as  it  influences 
those  of  London.  Some  no  doubt  never  took  a 
cold  bath;   others  probably  never  entered  a  hot 
one.   Some  were  exhilarated  by  a  good  wrestling 
bout  in  the  palaestra;   others  were  quite  conten't 
to  raise  their  bodies  to  the  required  temperature 
by  following  the  advice  of  the  Roman  medical 
writer  Celsus,   who  recommends  his  patients  to 
sit  quietly  in  the  tepidarium,  or  warm  chamber, 
<  without  undressing  »,    until    their   perspiration 
should  have  commenced.  We  think  that  writers 
on  Roman  baths  have  hardly  taken  these  matters 
sufficiently  into   consideration,    when  they    have 
laid  down  a  general  rule  as  if  it  were  applicable 
to  every  variety  of  case;   and  have    apparently 
neglected  the  personal  idiosyncrasies  of  the  indi^ 
vidual. 


160 


POMPEH 


THE  PUBIJC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      161 


If  we  enter  the  Stabian  Baths  by  their  prin- 
cipal entrance  we  find  ourselves  in  a  large  Court 
or  palcBstra.  Now  the  word  palcestra  is  derived 
from  the  Greek,  and  means  a  «  wrestling  ground*, 
and  this  no  doubt  is  the  purpose  for  which  the 
enclosure  was  primarily  intended.  The  seats 
under  the  southern  portico  would  be  for  the 
spectators  who  would  no  doubt  consist  of  elderly 
men  (the  most  unsparing  of  critics),  ladies,  and 
such  of  the  gilded  youth  of  the  town  as  preferred 
flirting  to  athletic  exercises. 

The  more  muscular  youths  would  be  engaged 
in  wrestling:  playing  i;/^//^r/^/^r/V^;;^,  a  game  which 
corresponded  to  our  <  fives  >,  and  more  remotely 
to  lawn  tennis:  swinging  the  corycos,  a  sack  of 
sand  which  was  suspended  from  a  pole:  or  hurl- 
ing the  large  stone  bowls  which  were  found  in 
the  court.  The  ordinary  games  with  a  handball 
were  very  favourite  with  the  Romans,  and  in- 
volved a  good  deal  of  muscular  exercise.  Horace 
says  that  the  blear-eyed  and  those  whose  di- 
gestion was  weak  found  them  unsuitable  ,  and 
the  frescoes  of  the  Roman  baths  show  several 
varieties  of  the  game.  Martial  tells  us  he  was 
playing  at  ball  when  the  bell  announced  that 
the  baths  were  ready  ,  and  no  dotibt  he  was 
only  conforming  to  ordinary  custom  by  doing  so. 

On  the  left  of  the  spectators  were  three  co- 


1; 


^H 


» * 


f 

4 


vered  courts,  of  which  one  served  as  the  dressing- 
room  of  the  swimming-bath,  and  the  other  two 
for  games  at  ball  in  wet  weather,  or  for  those 
who  preferred  to  be  protected  from  the  sun 
when  the   weather  was  fine. 

We  can  readily  imagine  the  muscular  youth 
of  the  city  indulging  in  a  good  game  in  the 
palaestra,  and  afterwards  enjoying  a  swim  in  the 
fine  bath  which  occupied  more  than  half  of  its 
western  side.  Such  as  these  would  care  nothincr 
for  the  enervating  luxury  of  the  warm  bath,  and 
would   never  use  it  except  for  curative  purposes. 

But  the  class  w^e  have  spoken  of  as  spectators 
looked  upon  the  matter  in  quite  another  light. 
They  had  not  come  to  the  baths  for  a  little 
violent  exercise  (of  which  they  were  probably 
incapable),  nor  for  a  dip  in  cold  water  the  very 
sighc  of  which  was  enough  for  them:  they  had 
come  to  hear  the  gossip  of  the  town,  to  pick 
up  such  items  of  new\s  as  form  the  staple  of  our 
<  society  papers  »  now-a-days:  to  chat  over  the 
last  play  or  the  coming  gladiatorial  show;  to 
while  away  their  time  in  criticising  the  decora- 
tion of  the  palrestra,  the  sports  of  the  bathers, 
or  the  latest  dinner  party;  or  perhaps  to  pay 
their  court  to  some  professional  beauty  who  was 
always  to  be  found  at  the  Stabian  baths  at  a 
certain  hoiir. 


II 


162 


POMPEII 


Such  is  the  scene  in  the  palaestra  as  the  shadow 
from  the  gnomon  of  the  large  public  sun-dial 
of  Atinius  falls  upon  the  appointed  hour  (pro- 
bably I  p.  M.)  at  which  the  hot  water  will  be 
ready,  and  the  air  chambers  duly  heated.  A  bell 
rincrs  loud  and  lono;  to  summon  the  bathers; 
Chloe  stops  her  dainty  ears  with  her  pearly 
finorers;  Marius  shouts  to  the  slave  that  he  has 
made  noise  enough;  for  Marius  was  at  an  orgy 
last  night  and  he  is  rather  nervous  this  morn- 
inp-.  Indeed  he  has  come  to  the  Thermae  in  the 
hopes  of  leaving  his  headache  behind  him,  and 
of  <(  pulling  himself  together  >  for  the  feast  of 
to-night.  Is  he  not  to  sup  with  Sallust  the  epi- 
cure, and  would  it  not  be  an  absolute  disaster 
to  go  to  such  a  house  without  an  appetite  ? 

Besides  Chloe  is  to  be  there,  and  his  witty 
toncrue  must  be  at  its  best  to  entertain  her.  Is 
she  not  the  beauty  of  the  city  ,  and  is  not  he 
her  recognised  admirer,  envied  by  all  \\i^  jetmesse 
dorec  of  Pompeii! 

Let  us  follow  him  into  the  door  on  the  right, 
now  that  he  has  escorted  Chloe  with  her  four 
slave  girls  to  the  door  at  the  upper  end  of  the 
Court  over  which  the  word  mulier  (woman) 
used  to  stand  in  bronze  letters.  We  will  follow 
her  presently,  but  for  the  moment  we  will  enter 
the  other  door  and    see   what    becomes  of    the 


<D) 


4 


I 


(» 
» 


4 

rv 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      163 


gentleman  who  has  been    so    devoted    to    her. 
Two    slaves    await    him  ;    the    one    a    swarthy 
Nubian  to  whom  the  hottest  chamber   is  a  de- 
light; the  other  a  wiry  Briton,  a  lineal  descendant 
of  the  troop  brought  by  Julius  Caesar  to  grace 
his  triumph  more  than  a  hundred  years  before. 
His  light  weight  and  his  hand  on  a  horse  had 
attracted    Marius    long    ago    when    he    was    in 
Rome,   and  he  gave  a  long  price  for  the  man; 
and  had  often   refused  a  longer  one,  for  he  had 
found  him  a  trustworthy  fellow  who  could  turn 
his  hand  to  anything. 

The  Nubian  carries  a  bronze  stool  and  a 
snow-white  sheet  which  stands  out  against  his 
dark  skin;  the  Briton  bears  a  ring  in  his  hand 
upon  which  are  strung  a  patera  or  shallow  sau- 
cer with  a  handle,  two  bronze  strigils,  and  an 
alabaster  ointment-pot  full  of  the  most  costly 
crocus-oil. 

They  enter  the  vestibule  and  pass  on  into  the 
tepidarium,  a  long  vaulted  chamber  handsomely 
decorated  with  stucco  panels.  Here  Marius  lan- 
guidly casts  off  his  toga  and  hands  it  to  the 
Nubian,  while  the  Briton  kneels  before  him  and 
takes  off  his  shoes,  substituting  a  pair  of  grass 
sandals  for  them.  His  master  in  the  meantime 
draws  off  all  his  rings,  for  the  rings  of  Marius 
are  known   and  envied    all  over   the  city.  Does 


164 


POMPEII 


he  not  wear  them  upon  every  joint  of  each  of 
his  fingers,  and  has  he  not  often  boasted  (for 
Marius  is  a  regular  snob  as  well  as  a  fop)  that 
his  ten  fingers  carry  the  dowry  of  as  many 
Virgins.  These  rings  together  with  his  master's 
money,  the  Nubian  secures  in  the  pouch  of  his 
belt,  and  follows  Marius  into  the  hot  chamber 
where  the  latter  seats  himself,  and  enters  into 
conversation  with  his  friends  while  he  sips  a 
glass  of  hot  spiced  wine. 

The  first  chamber  is  of  a  moderate  tempe- 
rature, the  vacuum  beneath  the  floor  is  about 
two  feet  in  depth,  and  communicates  with  the 
heating  apparatus  as  well  as  with  the  hollow 
walls.  These  are  faced  with  large  tiles,  kept  off 
the  solid  part  of  the  wall  by  nipples  two  inches 
long.  The  heat  of  the  room  is  pleasant  without 
being  enervating ,  and  Marius  feels  his  skin 
gradually  becoming  moist  ,  and  congratulates 
himself  that  the  fever  of  last  nicrht's  debauch  is 
surely  passing  away. 

He  has  been  here  perhaps  half  an  hour,  when 
he  makes  a  sign  to  his  slave  to  accompany  him 
into  the  inner  room.  Here  the  temperature  is  a 
good  deal  higher,  for  the  hollow  bricks  lead  up 
outside  the  walls  directly  from  the  furnace  be- 
neath, and  are  not  imbedded  like  those  in  the 
first  chamber. 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEII      165 


J 


4 


f 


This  hall  moreover,  is  in  close  proximity  to 
the  principal  furnace  which  also  heats  the  la- 
dies* baths  , 'and  ,  but  for  his  sandals,  Marius 
would  not  be  able  to  bear  his  feet  upon  the 
scalding  pavement.  Even  the  Nubian  grins  and 
shows  his  white  teeth  as  he  moves  his  feet 
uneasily  upon  the  heated  concrete. 

€  Ye  gods!  >  exclaims  Marius,  «  these  slaves 
of  the  Thermae  are  bent  on  baking  us  alive! 
Come  Africanus,  and  let  us  get  done  with  this  >. 
The  Nubian  approaches,  and  with  his  soft  black 
hands  soon  covers  his  master  with  a  thick  lather 
which  he  rubs  in  with  a  will.  He  then  takes  the 
strigil  which  is  a  concave  bronze  hook  with  a 
convenient  handle  ,  and  with  this  he  carefully 
scrapes  Marius  from  head  to  foot,  castino-  warm 
water  over  him  from  time  to  time  till  his  skin  is  as 
soft  as  that  of  a  young  child.  And  now  while  his 
Master  bends  his  head  forward,  he  pours  upon  it 
first  warm,  then  tepid,  then  cold  water,  till  he 
gasps  again,  and  tells  him  to  desist.  They  then 
adjourn  to  the  plunge  bath,  which  is  in  a  circular 
building  near  the  entrance.  How  cool  and  de- 
lightful it  looks  with  its  domed  roof  just  giving 
us  a  peep  of  the  blue  sky  through  the  aperture 
at  the  top,  and  its  pure  white  marble  bath  gli- 
stening with    the  sheen    of  the  greenish    water, 


166 


POMPEII 


THE  PUBLIC  BUILDINGS  OF  POMPEH     161 


and  surrounded  with  flowers  and  shrubs  dexte- 
rously painted  on  the  walls.  Marius  draws  a  long 
breath  and  plunges  in.  He  feels  as  if  new  life 
were  being  poured  into  his  jaded  frame  as  he 
seats  himself  under  the  heavy  jet ,  and  allows 
the  falling  water  to  give  his  aching  head  a  final 
cooling;  and  as  he  recovers  himself  he  begins 
to  think  almost  lovingly  of  the  evening's  banquet. 

And  now  the  nimble  Briton  is  drying  him; 
and  wTapping  himself  in  a  sheet  Marius  is  under 
the  barbers'  hands.  The  fragrant  crocus-oil  is 
applied  all  over  his  body ;  his  hair  is  carefully 
curled,  and  our  young  exquisite  saunters  into 
the  portico,  putting  on  his  rings  as  he  goes, 
and  debating  in  his  mind  whether  he  shall  look 
into  the  theatres,  content  himself  with  a  stroll 
in  the  Forum,  or  order  out  some  of  his  slaves 
to  take  a  row^  up  the  Sarnus  in  his  brass-prowed 
galley. 

We  w^ill  now  return  to  Chloe,  w^ho  with  her 
four  slave-girls  entered  the  cool  chamber  on  the 
ladies  side  of  the  Thermae,  some  two  or  more 
hours  ago. 

Here  she  was  subjected  to  much  the  same 
treatment  as  Marius  underwent,  saving  that 
there  being  no  extremely  hot  chamber  on  her 
side  of  the  Baths  she  did  not  run  the  same  risk 
of  being  baked  alive. 


'J'    * 


v>.l 


j 


4>  w  »• 


t 


\ 


{ 

,1 


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4 


But  if  the  hot  chamber  for  the  ladies  was 
many  degrees  cooler  than  that  used  by  the 
sterner  sex,  it  was  also  much  more  handsomely 
decorated,  or  at  all  events  much  more  of  its 
decoration  has  survived  to  our  times.  The 
marble  bath  at  one  end  and  the  labrum  or 
fountain  at  the  other  ,  are  so  perfect  that  one 
might  turn  the  w^ater  into  them  and  use  them 
again  to-morrow^ ,  while  the  mosaic  floor  has 
scarcely  a  cube  missing;  though  enough  of  the 
arch  has  fallen  away  to  let  us  into  the  secret 
of  the  method  by  which  the  Romans  constructed 
their  vaults,  namely  by  building  amphorae  into 
them,  in  order  to  combine  liorhtness  with  strencrth. 

But  Chloe  s  toilet  is  not  so  simple  as  that  of 
Marius;  her  raven  tresses  require  to  be  combed 
out,  and  with  all  the  care  of  her  maidens  they 
have  not  been  able  to  keep  them  perfectly  dry. 
She  w^ill  not  therefore  show  herself  again  in  the 
palaestra,  but  sends  word  without  that  her  litter 
is  to  be  brought  to  the  little  western  door, 
which  leads  from  the  Baths  into  the  small  street 
at  the  back. 

As  soon  as  her  litter  is  announced  she  pas- 
ses down  the  passage  where  are  the  private 
bath  rooms,  till  she  reaches  the  door. 

She  calls  impatiently  to  the  porter  ,  for  she 
does  not  wish  to  be  seen  leaving  by  this  exit. 


16cS 


POMPEII 


It  is  out-of-the-way,  and  odd  stories  are  told  of 
some  of  the  ladies  who  go  in  and  out  by  it: 
so  she  steps  nimbly  into  her  litter  and  drawing 
the  curtains  of  it  ,  orders  her  bearers  to  carry 
her  home  again.  Her  maidens  follow  bearing  her 
elegant  silver  strigils,  embossed  with  the  bust 
of  the  chaste  Diana;  her  silver  mirror  adorned 
with  a  relief  representing  the  death  of  Cleopatra, 
her  alabaster  jars  of  costly  ointment;  her  glass 
vessels  of  exquisite  perfumes,  the  proudest  spoils 
of  Sabaean  caravans;  her  ivory  combs  and  silver 
hairpins,  her  gold  bracelets  and  her  coral  amu- 
lets. And  woe  indeed  to  them  if  anything  should 
be  missing  on  their  arrival,  for  Chloe's  venge- 
ance is  swift  and  sure,  and  the  terrible  lash  of 
her  savage  Greek  Majordomo  hangs  ever  ready 
on  the  pillars  of  the  peristyle. 


i 


'  W' 


>  -''. 


-.,"■,,    » 


li 


4 


CHAPTER  VIII 

rUE  ^VAlAS  AND  GATES  — Tin:  AMPHITHEATRE 

Introductory  Remarks  —  The  Gate  of  StabicE  —  Jtipiter 
Meilichuis  —  The  Niuerhie  Gate  and  Tombs  —  The 
Amphitheatre  and  its  Sports— The  Gate  of  No la-^  The 
Gate  of  Hercidaneum — The   City  avails. 

O^^iGiNALLv  the  walls  of  Pompeii  were  pierced 
by  eight  gates,  to  which  Professor  Fiorelli  has 
given  the  following  names:  Of  the  Sea  —  of 
Stabiae — Nuceria — Sarno  —  Nola — Capua Ve- 
suvius —  and  Herculaneum. 

Of  these  only  four  are  at  present  visible  in 
their  entirety,  namely  those  of  the  Sea,  of  Sta- 
biae, of  Nola  and  of  Herculaneum.  A  small  portion 
of  the  Gate  of  Vesuvius  is  also  visible,  but  the 
others  thougli  once  opened  up  ,  are  now  quite 
covered  again. 

The  walls  are  traceable  all  the  w^ay  from  the 
Amphitheatre  to  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum,  and 


^l^jj^a^^^^li^^^e^ig^ 


170 


POMPEII 


THE  WALLS  AND  GATES 


171 


1 


the  circuit  of  them  can  be  made  either  on  foot 
or  on  horseback.  If  the  latter  plan  is  adopted, 
the  high  road  must  be  taken  as  far  as  the  Am- 
phitheatre, as  the  walls  cannot  be  approached 
before  that  point  on  the  outer  side.  But  the 
pedestrian  will  find  it  interesting  to  make  the 
entire  circuit ,  within  the  walls  to  the  Amphi- 
theatre, and  without  them  for  the  rest  of  the 
distance.  The  excursion  will  occupy  a  couple  of 
hours  including  a  visit  to  the  Amphitheatre.  The 
walls  are  visible  only  at  a  few  points  within 
the  city,  but  if  the  outer  circuit  is  made  ,  the 
site  of  all  the  towers  can  be  identified,  and 
numerous  places  will  be  observed  w^here  impor- 
tant breaches  have  been  made  in  the  defences 
which  have  been  patched  up  subsequently  by  a 
different  and  very  inferior  kind  of  masonry, 
stuccoed  over  so  as  to  look  like  the  original 
wall.  It  will  be  observed  that  the  outer  walls 
of  all  the  towers  have  been  pulled  down,  and 
this  was  no  doubt  done  to  dismantle  the  city. 
An  inspection  of  these  ramparts  will  be  interest- 
ing to  military  men  and  archaeologists  ,  but  it 
involves  a  long  walk,  and  the  expenditure  of  a 
good  deal  of  time,  and  should  therefore  not  be 
undertaken  by  those  who  have  not  leisure,  unless 
they  are  specially  interested  in  the  matter.  The 
original  spouting  for  draining  the  ramparts  will 


t 


■f-i 


-1 
I 


*r 


be  noticed,  and  there  are  a  few  characters  cut 
upon  the  stones  in  divers  places.  Some  writers 
assert  that  these  are  Oscan  inscriptions;  others 
that  they  are  merely  mason's  marks,  the  latter 
being  the  more  probable  solution. 

The  most  interesting  portion  of  the  city  de- 
fences may  easily  be  visited  by  walking  from  the 
Gate  of  Herculaneum  a  few  hundred  yards  to 
the  eastward  outside  the  wall.  Here  the  treneral 
character  of  the  defences  can  be  readily  studied, 
and  this  is  certainly  the  point  where  the  forti- 
fication of  the  town  was  most  elaborate.  We 
shall  consider  this  part  of  the  wall  in  detail  in 
connection  with  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum  (see 
index). 

In  the  careful  description  already  given  of  the 
Sea  Gate  (see  index)  and  of  the  wall  adjoining  it, 
we  have  made  it  clear  that  the  fortifications  of 
Pompeii  were  practically  destroyed  on  the  whole 
of  the  western  and  a  great  part  of  the  south- 
ern side  of  the  city  ,  and  that  there  was  no 
available  carriage  exit  all  the  way  from  the 
gate  of  Herculaneum  to  that  of  Stabia.  The 
natural  fall  of  the  ground  and  the  absence  of 
gates  consequently  made  this  the  strongest  side 
of  the  city,  and  it  will  be  observed  that  on  this 
side  there  are  no  traces  of  watch-towers,  for  the 
reason  that  such  towers  would    be   quite  unne- 


172 


POMPEII 


cessary,   assault  being  impossible    from  this  di- 
rection. 

The  Gate  of  StabiaB  (i85i-52)  stands  at  the  bottom 
of  a  steep  hill  which  forms  the  end  of  the  Street 
of  Stabiae  and  is  near  to  the  theatres  and  Ludus 
Gladiatorius,  which  we  considered  in  the  preced- 
ing chapter.  Here  too  the  wall  commences  again, 
the  gate  being  pierced  right  through  it  with  a 
barrel  vault  similar  to  that  of  the  Sea  Gate  only 
much  lower.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the 
Stabian  Gate,  or  at  any  rate  the  wall  adjoining 
it  is  very  ancient,  and  the  difference  in  style 
between  it  and  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum  which 
is  probably  the  most  recent  of  the  gates  and 
certainly  of  the  Roman  period  ,  is  especially 
remarkable. 

On  the  right  as  w^e  approach  the  archw^ay,  is 
a  public  fountain  with  a  head  of  Medusa  upon 
it,  and  on  the  left,  steps  leading  up  to  the  city 
wall.  This  gate  bore  two  inscriptions;  one  in 
Oscan  in  the  centre  of  the  vault  on  the  left- 
hand  side,  the  other  in  Latin  outside  the  Gate 
on  the  eastern  side.  The  Oscan  inscription  was 
on  a  block  of  travertine,  which  has  been  removed 
to  the  Naples  Museum  and  replaced  by  a  fac- 
simile in  white  marble  put  up  in  the  original 
place. 


THE  WAIXS  AND  GATES 


173 


",f" 


.11  f 


-S^ 


*  > 


The  Latin  inscription  appears  to  be  ancient, 
and  certainly  if  it  is  an  imitation  it  is  a  very 
good  one.  We  will  take  the  Oscan  inscription 
first,  adopting  the  excellent  translation  published 
by  Dyer: 

The  ^diles  Publins  Sittius  son  of  Marcus  ,  and  Nu- 
merius  Pontius  son  of  Publius  laid  down  the  limits  of 
this  street,  and  fixed  the  terminus  of  it  ten  feet  beyond 
the  Stabian  Gate.  They  also  fixed  the  limits  of  the  Via 
Pompeiana  three  feet  before  the  enclosure  of  Jupiter 
Meilichius.  These  streets  as  well  as  the  Jovia  and  Decumana 
were  constructed  by  the  public  slaves  of  Pompeii  under 
the  direction  of  the  surveyors  of  the  streets,  and  the 
same  ^diles  approved  of  them. 

The  Latin  inscription  states  that 

Avianus  and  Spedius  the  Duumvirs  paved  the  road 
from  the  milestone  to  Gisiarii,  which  was  on  the  confines 
of  the  Pompeian  territory  at  their  own  expense. 

These  inscriptions  are  both  very  important, 
and  contain  a  great  deal  of  topographical  infor- 
mation, but  to  explain  them  involves  a  good  deal 
of  conjecture.  It  is  clear  from  the  Oscan  inscrip- 
tion that  the  Gate  we  are  considering  was  called 
the  Stabian  Gate,  but  Fiorelli  conjectures  that 
the  streets  referred  to  were  all  outside  the  town, 
and  that  a  shrine  of  Jupiter  Meilichius  stood  not 


174 


POMPEII 


far  from  the  Gate  and  presumably  on  the  out- 
side of  it.  This  of  course  may  be  the  case,  but 
we  can  see  no  argument  to  support  it,  nor  any 
reason  why  the  places  referred  to  in  the  Oscan 
inscription  may  not  just  as  well  be  inside  as 
outside  the  Gate. 

The  words  «  The  /Ediles  laid  down  the  limits 
of  this  street,  and  fixed  the  terminus  of  it  ten 
feet  beyond  the  Stabian  Gate  »,  may  surely  mean 
that  the  y^diles  (who  were  town  officials)  agreed 
to  carry  their  paving  ten  feet  beyond  the  Gate. 
Again,  three  other  streets  are  mentioned,  namely 
Pompeiana,  Jovia  and  Decumana ,  all  approved 
by  the  /Ediles  and  all  probably  within  the  town. 
Is  there,  we  may  ask,  any  reason  why  the  shrine 
of  Jupiter  Meilichius  should  not  have  been  within 
the  town  also?  Is  there  any  reason  why  it  should 
not  be  the  little  temple  known  as  the  Temple  of 
/'Esculapius,  which  every  scholar  now^  admits 
was  dedicated  to  Jupiter?  Again,  who  was  Ju- 
piter Meilichius?  It  w^as  Jupiter  in  his  benignant 
and  propitious  character.  Breton  points  out  that 
Meilichius  is  merely  a  Latinised  form  of  the 
Greek  word  meaning  «  kind  >  or  <(  amiable  ». 
Now  although  Overbeck  considers  that  the 
terra-cotta  statue  found  in  the  temple  was  of 
very  late  period,  and  probably  bought  ready- 
made  to  replace  a  better  one  which    had   been 


V 


THE  WALLS  .AND  (iATES 


175 


i 


'     4 


i 


destroyed  in  the  earthquake,  anyone  who  exam- 
ines it  must  admit  that  it  has  the  face  of  a 
benignant  and  not  of  a  stern  deity.  Indeed  it 
was  probably  the  expression  of  the  face  which 
led  the  finders  of  it  to  call  it  ^Esculapius  rather 
than  Jupiter.  If  these  arc  not  untenable  conjec- 
tures, this  is  the  <(  enclosure  of  Jupiter  Meilichius  » 
alluded  to  in  the  Oscan  inscription,  and  w^e  have 
the  topography  of  this  inscription  as  clearly  as 
possible.  «  This  Street  »  namely  the  Via  Sta- 
biana  w^ould  begin  ten  feet  outside  the  Stabian 
Gate  and  run  to  within  three  feet  of  the  temple 
of  Jupiter.  Here  it  would  meet  the  Via  Pompe- 
iana which  would  run  down  from  the  present 
street  of  Nola  to  the  shrine  of  Jupiter,  and  the 
Via  Decumana  would  be  the  important  street 
(called  on  our  plan  Strada  del  Tempio  d* hide) 
which  runs  past  the  temple  of  Isis  and  helps 
to  form  the  angle  at  the  so-called  /Esculapian 
shrine  ;  while  the  fourth  street  mentioned  in  the 
inscription  namely  the:  «  Via  Jovia  »  would  be 
the  street  called  on  our  map  Strada  dcU'  An- 
fiteatro  which  runs  into  the  Strada  Stabiana 
directly  opposite  the  northern  corner  of  the 
shrine.  The  fact  that  the  stone  w^as  set  up  with 
its  inscription  towards  the  city  seems  to  point 
to  the  inference  that  whatever  the  Ediles  did 
was  done  within  the  city,   and  not  without  the 


176 


POMPEII 


walls;  their  business  was  inside  the  town,  not 
outside  it;  their  labourers  were  «  public  slaves 
of  Pompeii  >  ;  and  there  is  a  shrine  of  Jupiter 
ready  to  hand  with  important  crossways  meet- 
ing^ at  its  ancrle. 

Directly  in  front  of  the  door  of  this  shrine 
of  Jupiter  is  a  stone  which  once  belonged  to  a 
fountain;  but  it  was  clearly  never  a  fountain  in 
its  present  position.  Hence  it  may  be  a  mark 
belonging  to  the  roadways,  though  it  bears  no 
inscription  to  justify  our  conjecture. 

To  turn  now  to  the  Latin  inscription  we  find 
that  it  is  placed  outside  the  v^all,  and  faces  the 
country.  It  states  that  whatever  was  done  by 
the  Duumvirs  was  done  «  at  their  own  expense.  > 
There  is  no  mention  of  the  «  public  slaves  of 
Pompeii  »  here  ;  the  road  »  from  the  milestone 
to  Gisiarii  »  was  a  present  to  the  townspeople 
by  the  Duumvirs,  just  as  we  noticed  in  the  last 
chapter  that  the  marble  pavement  of  the  covered 
theatre  was  the  gift  of  Verus  the  Duumvir, 
instead  of  the  games  which  it  was  usual  for  a 
man  to  give  on  his  accession  to  office.  There 
are  so  many  instances  in  Pompeii  of  public 
works  being  undertaken  by  the  Duumvirs  pro 
ludis  (instead  of  games)  that,  we  may  safely 
guess  that  the  road  to  Gisiarii  is  another  case 
in  point,  and  we  may  reasonably  conclude  that 


THE  WALLS  AND  GATES 


177 


j'*^ 


f 


the  milestone  alluded  to  stood  near  the  Gate. 
It  does  not  appear  altogether  impossible  that 
the  stone  upon  which  the  Oscan  inscription  was 
written  may  be  the  miliarius  alluded  to,  although 
it  was  not  properly  speaking  a  milestone  ,  but 
only  something  like  one.  Be  that  as  it  may, 
there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Duumvirs  made 
a  road  outside  the  town  from  Pompeii  to  Gi- 
siarii at  the  confines  of  the  Pompeian  territory, 
and  we  may  ask  in  conclusion  why  they  should 
have  done  so  if  the  ^^diles  had  already  made 
four  roads  at  the  public  expense  outside  this 
very  Gate? 

The  question  of  the  repair  of  the  public  streets, 
though  a  little  beside  our  actual  subject,  is  an 
interesting  one,  and  there  are  many  considera- 
tions which  lead  us  to  infer  with  some  deyrree 
of  certainty  that  each  householder  was  liable  to 
repair  the  street  opposite  his  door ,  and  was 
permitted  to  lay  down  the  footway  according  to 
his  own  taste. 

For  it  will  be  observed  that  there  exists  in 
Pompeii  a  very  great  variety  in  the  paving  of 
the  sidewalks  ,  and  that  a  new  type  often  ,  or 
even  usually,  appears  in  front  of  a  single  house. 
The  house  of  the  Faun  has  the  salutation  have 
on  the  pavement  in  front  of  it ,  certainly  put 
there  by  the  owner  of  the  house,  a  liberty  which 

12 


178 


POMPEII 


THE  WALLS  AND  GATES 


179 


a  man  would  hardly  have  taken  without  having 
the  right  to  do  so.  Many  similar  instances  will 
be  apparent  to  the  observant  visitor.  With  re- 
gard to  the  paving  of  the  carriage-way .  the 
Street  of  Nola  offers  near  the  street  of  Vesu- 
vius a  striking  proof  of  our  contention  where 
we  notice  portions  of  the  roadway  in  excellent 
order  lying  between  portions  that  are  in  the 
most  deplorable  condition,  showing  that  some 
householders  did  their  duty  to  the  public,  while 
others  neglected  it.  Had  the  ^diles  paved  the 
street,  they  would  surely  have  done  so  conti- 
nuousl)'  and  not*  in  patches. 

To  conclude  our  account  of  the  Gate  of  Stabiae 
we  must  add  that  like  the  Gate  of  the  Sea  it 
had  a  niche ,  in  which  it  is  probable  that  a 
statue  of  Minerva  was  placed,  because  the  word 
PATRUA  w^as  found  scratched  in  large  letters  at 
the  back  of  the  niche,  and  this  is  a  well-known 
appellation  of  the  warrior  goddess.  It  will  be 
seen  further  on,  that  the  Gate  of  Nola  was  also 
dedicated  to  Minerva,  and  thus  all  the  ancient 
gates  we  have  as  yet  discovered  were  under 
her  protection.  The  Gate  of  Herculaneum  had 
no  such  dedication  ,  but  as  we  shall  see  ,  this 
was  of  much  more  modern  construction. 

We  regret  that  our  space  does  not  permit  us 
to  give  a  full  account  of  some  private  excava- 


*■  *■ 


«► 


\ 


tions  undertaken  in  i885  outside  the  Stabian 
Gate.  The  splendid  necklace  of  pearls  and  eme- 
ralds now  in  the  Naples  Museum  was  found 
there,  and  was  patriotically  sold  by  the  proprietor 
to  the  Government  at  a  nominal  price.  Upw^ards 
of  two  hundred  skeletons  w^ere  also  found,  show- 
ing thaj:  many  of  the  inhabitants  had  endeavoured 
to  escape  by  this  road,  and  had  taken  refuge 
in  the  buildings  outside  the  walls. 

The  Gate  of  Nuceria  is  no  longer  visible.  It 
stood  in  a  very  poor  quarter  of  the  town,  near 
the  Amphitheatre,  and  it  is  only  thanks  to  the 
discovery  of  some  tombs  outside  it  in  1886  that 
we  need  mention  it.  These  were  parallel  with 
the  highway  which  is  in  a  shocking  state  of  dis- 
repair, and  stand  some  four  feet  above  its  level, 
the  causeways  on  either  side  being  considerably 
raised.  The  tombs  are  much  in  the  style  of  the 
small  arbours  of  suburban  tea-gardens;  they  are 
built  of  brick  plastered  and  painted.  The  inscrip- 
tions were  mostly  painted  in  red;  the  busts  found 
were  inartistic,  the  burials  were  of  the  cremation 
period,  and  the  coins  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius. 
It  thus  is  quite  clear  that  this  was  a  burial 
place  for  the  poorer  classes,  but  as  it  lies  outside 
the  ground  claimed  by  the  Government  as  cover- 
ing Pompeii,  there  is  not  much  prospect  of  any 
further  excavation  being  undertaken  on  the  spot, 


180 


POMPEII 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE 


181 


as  excavation  is  a  costly  process  and  nothin^-r 
of  a  remunerative  character  would  be  likely  to 
be  found.  The  inscriptions  on  such  of  these  tombs 
as  are  still  visible  were  published  in  the  Atti 
dell' Accademia  del  Lincei  iSSj,  One  of  them 
referred  to  a  strayed  horse  which  might  be  re- 
covered by  its  owner  on  application  to  the 
proprietor  of  the  farm  by  the  Sarnus ;  the  me- 
morial inscriptions  were  in  many  cases  in  memory 
of  people  who  belonged  to  Nuceria,  which  leads 
us  to  conjecture  that  the  bodies  of  the  victims 
of  the  Nucerine  riot  were  cremated  on  the  spot 
and  the  ashes  placed  in  these   sepulchres. 

The  Amphitheatre  of  Pompeii  (1749,  181 3-1 6)  is 
not  a  very  remarkable  one,  and  certainly  does 
not  compare  favourably  with  the  Coliseum  at 
Rome  or  with  the  interesting  building  of  the 
same  character  at  Pozzuoli;  but  as  a  feature  in 
the  history  of  the  town  it  deserves  careful  study. 

We  have  noted  already  that  in  Pompeii  ,  as 
in  most  towns,  the  public  games  were  held  in 
the  Forum  before  the  Amphitheatre  was  erected; 
but  as  might  be  expected  the  dedication  of  spe- 
cial buildings  to  these  shows  added  immensely 
to  their  magnificence  and  popularity. 

The  Romans  probably  got  the  idea  of  their 
gladiatorial    combats  from    the  Etruscans,  who 


\ 


V 

■'■/ 


f 


offered  human  sacrifices  at  the  tombs  of  their 
friends ;  and  such  sacrifices  appear  to  have  been 
the  origin  of  the  gladiatorial  contests.  The  step 
between  butchering  human  beings  in  cold  blood 
and  making  them  fight  till  they  killed  each  other, 
is  not  a  very  great  one,  and  no  doubt  by  de- 
grees many  spectators  would  be  attracted  to  see 
the  combats,  until  eventually  these  shows  became 
regular  pageants  held  in  honour  of  important 
personages  who  often  left  money  by  will  to  pay 
for  them;  the  idea  being  that  the  hero  should 
have  someone  to  wait  upon  him  in  the  next 
world;  and  frequently  for  the  same  reason  a 
horse  was  butchered,  so  that  he  might  have  a 
steed  to  carry  him  if  he  required  one  ;  for  the 
ancients  did  not  disallow  a  future  state  to  the 
lower  creation.  A  strange  survival  of  this  custom 
is  observable  in  military  funerals  at  home  where 
the  charger  follows  his  master  to  the  grave,  and  if 
he  has  been  a  favourite,  is  usually  shot  afterwards- 
The  brutality  of  the  contests  in  the  later  ti- 
mes was  a  part  of  the  general  degradation  of 
the  Romans,  w^ho  not  content  with  the  innocent 
contests  of  the  Circus  w^hich  they  had  derived 
from  the  Greeks,  seem  to  have  developed  the 
more  cruel  and  degrading  sports  of  the  Amphi- 
theatre from  their  own  debased  imaginations.  It 
is  necessary  to  mark  the  distinction  which  existed 


182 


POMPEII 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE 


183 


between  the  games   of  the    Greek    Pentathlum, 
which    consisted    of    racing  and    other    athletic 
exercises,  and  the  shows  of  the   Amphitheatre, 
which  although  they  varied  in  different  periods, 
were  always  cruel  and  generally  utterly  revolt- 
ing.  It  is  true  that  before  the  Amphitheatres  the 
Romans  used  to  have  similar    brutal    shows  in 
the  Circus,  but  this  was  putting    the  Circus  to 
a  use  entirely  unknown  to  the  Greeks,  and  a  use 
moreover  for  which  its  long  shape,   with  a  wall 
running  down  the  middle,  especially  unfitted  it. 
At  Rome  successive  amphitheatres  were  built 
of  wood  and  it  was    not    till  the  reicrn    of  Ve- 
spasian  that  the  Flavian  Amphitheatre  was  com- 
menced, and  that  was  not  finished  till  the  reign 
of  Titus.   But  the  Coliseum  even  in  its  present 
ruinous  condition,  is  a  building  so  vast  and  so 
imposing  that  we  must  banish  all  recollection  of 
it  from  our  minds,  if  we  desire  to  form  an  idea 
of  the  comparatively  small  structure  at  Pompeii. 
The  sports  held  in  both  of  them  were  identical, 
and  it  will  be  interesting  to  consider  these  before 
we  inquire  into  the  plan  of  the  building  in  which 
they  were  held. 

The  gladiators  were  a  class  of  slaves  specially 
trained  for  these  combats  in  schools  such  as 
those  we  have  already  described.  The  lanista  or 
trainer  let  out    his  troop    on  the    occasion  of  a 


*   -. .' 


*   4'   . 

'''■»■'  ■ 


^i^ 


<> 


*-  \ 


festival  being  given  either  by  public  officials, 
who  gave  them  to  gain  favour  with  the  populace, 
or  by  private  persons  who  caused  them  to  be 
held  in  honoi?r  of  their  deceased  relatives.  These 
shows  extended  from  264  b.  c.  to  the  time  of 
Honorius  when  they  were  finally  suppressed,  but 
they  seem  to  have  reached  the  climax  of  their 
splendour  in  the  first  century  of  our  era. 

The  Gladiators  derived  their  name  from  the 
gladius  or  short  sword  with  which  they  fought,  and 
were  divided  into  several  classes  according:  to  the 
nature  of  the  contests  in  which  they  were  engaged. 

Sometimes  they  fought  in  groups,  sometimes 
in  pairs,  sometimes  in  chariots  or  on  horseback, 
now  in  armour  now  without  armour;  and  it  was 
not  uncommon  to  set  men  to  fight  blindfold  to 
amuse  the  people.  They  were  also  frequently 
armed  with  the  weapons  of  other  nations  ,  as 
for  example  those  of  the  Thracians  or  of  the 
Samnites;  and  one  peculiar  style  of  combat  was 
carried  out  by  the  use  of  the  lasso,  which  as  a 
matter  of  skill  must  have  been  an  interesting 
contest,  had  not  the  conclusion  of  it  been  so 
gruesome  and  terrible.  We  will  conclude  the  list 
with  a  mention  of  the  Retiarii  who  fought  with 
a  net  in  which  they  endeavoured  to  entangle 
their  enemy,  and  when  so  disabled  they  ran  him 
through  with  a  trident. 


BA-^ j,.*^  '"^jj^a—MfellMMJM 


184 


POMPEII 


There  was  another    use  to  which    some  am- 
phitheatres   and    notably  that    of    Pozzuoli  and 
probably  that  of  Cumae  also  were    put,  namely 
the  Natimachia,  or  sea  fight,  but  as  the  amphi- 
theatre of  Pompeii  was  not  adapted  to  this  cruel 
sport,  we  need  only  explain  that  the  arena  was 
flooded  with  water    and  that    boats  filled    with 
armed  men  rowed  in  from  either  end  and  their 
crews  hacked  each  other  to  pieces  till  the  arena 
became  a  lake  of  blood.  The    Naumachia    was 
eventually  put  down  on    account    of   the    great 
waste  of  slaves  occasioned  by  it,  and  the  edict 
suppressing  it  was  probably  anterior  to  the  con- 
struction   of  the    Pompeian    arena.  It  is  indeed 
hardly  to  be    believed    how  so  civilised    a  race 
as  the  Romans  of  the  first    century  could  take 
delight  in  such  horrible  scenes,  but  so  it  was; 
and    when    after    a    hard    fight  the  vanquished 
wretch  lay  prostrate  at   the    feet  of  the  victor, 
an  appeal  was    made   to  the    spectators   who  if 
he  had    fought    well  would  sometimes    let  him 
off,  but  if  he  had  shown  the  slightest   timidity 
or  cowardice,  would  turn  down  their  thumbs  to 
indicate  that    he  must   be  slain.*  His    opponent 
then  ran  him  through  ;   a  hook  was  attached  to 

*  The  authorities  vary  as  to  whether  «  thumbs  up  > 
or  «  thumbs  down  »  stood  as  the  sign  for  mercy  or  the 
reverse. 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE 


185 


♦-1 


I 


his  corpse  and  he  was  drawn  out  of  the  arena.  In 
very  many  cases  the  sports  were  advertised  to 
be  held  sine  missione,  and  then  no  quarter  at 
all  was  given. 

It  is  scarcely  possible  to  believe  the  number 
of  men  reported  to  have  been  shown  in  the 
arena  on  great  occasions,  but  Dion  Cassius  states 
that  when  the  triumph  of  Trajan  over  the  Daci 
was  celebrated  by  games,  more  than  ten  thousand 
men  were  exhibited! 

This  will  be  best  understood  in  modern  times 
by  stating  that  the  number  of  men  was  about 
equivalent  to  ten  infantry  regiments  of  the  line 
marching  past  at  their  full  war  strength;  a  number 
sufficient  to  make  up  a  very  respectable  review 
in  the  present  day.  If  these  figures  are  not 
exaggerated  we  can  hardly  imagine  the  fearful 
scene  that  must  have  occurred  as  troop  after 
troop  entered  the  fatal  arena,  and  fought  for 
dear  life  in  the  centre  of  an  excited  throng  of 
bloodthirsty  spectators. 

A  gladiator  was  always  looked  down  upon, 
nor  could  he  ever  attain  equestrian  rank;  and 
though  Cicero  holds  up  their  courage  and  fear- 
lessness of  death  to  admiration,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  a  certain  stigma  attached  itself  thejj, 
as  now,  to  the  pugilistic  profession.  About  the 
middle   of  the  first  century,  a  class  of  amateurs 


186 


POMPEII 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE 


187 


sprang  up  who  used  to  appear  publicly  in  the 
arena  and  who  fought  no  doubt  with  blunted  or 
wooden  weapons.  It  is  said  that  Nero  -who  was 
a  great  patron  of  the  games  appeared  personally 
in  the  arena,  and  this  may  perhaps  be  the  ru- 
diment from  which  the  mediaeval  tournament 
sprang,  for  in  the  days  of  chivalry  the  most  noble 
were  not  ashamed  to  seek  renown  in  the  lists. 

We  must  now  pass  on  to  other  purposes  for  ^ 
w^hich  the  Amphitheatres  were  used.  Of  these 
the  chief  was  the  Venatio,  often  called  legitima 
in  the  Pompeian  inscriptions  ,  though  in  what 
sense  legitima  we  are  not  able  to  decide.  This 
Venatio  which  literally  means  «  hunting  scene  » 
is  particularly  interesting  in  Christian  history  as 
having  been  the  origin  of  Christians  being 
thrown  to  the  wild  beasts ;  a  custom  which 
probably  arose  from  the  fact  that  persons  of  this 
persuasion  declined  to  fight  as  gladiators,  which 
the  captives  from  the  more  savage  races  such 
as  the  Gauls  and  the  Daci  willingly  did.  The 
Venatio  was  a  very  favourite  pastime  of  the 
Romans  and  appears  to  have  been  introduced 
in  25 1   B.   c,   when  in  common  with  the  crladia- 

o 

torial  shows  it  was  held  in  the  Circus.  The  great 
Venatio  of  Julius  Caesar  is  said  to  have  lasted 
five  days,  and  the  animals  exhibited  included 
giraffes,  then    seen  in    Italy  for  the  first   time. 


) 


We  have  mention  at  various  periods  of  elephants, 
lions,  "hippopotami,  rhinoceri  and  crocodiles  being 
hunted  in  the  Circus  at  Rome.  Julius  Caesar 
introduced  bull-fights,  and  Augustus  showed  a 
snake  fifty  cubits  in  length.  The  number  of 
animals  including  ostriches,  bears,  deer,  boars 
and  wild  goats  reported  slain  on  great  occasions 
IS  beyond  belief.  The  paijitings  at  Pompeii  fre- 
quently represent  groups  from  these  scenes,  but 
the  most  important  representation  of  them  is 
(or  rather  was)  a  stucco  basrelief  on  the  tomb 
of  Scaurus  which  has  long  since  perished,  though 
it  was  fortunately  engraved  by  Mazois  in  his 
large  work  on  Pompeii,  and  copies  of  it  are  re- 
produced in  the  principal  illustrated  books  on 
the  subject.  In  the  Imperial  Venationes,  the  Cir- 
cus was  planted  with  trees  stuck  into  the  ground 
to  simulate  a  forest ;  whether  this  was  done  in 
the  Pompeian  Amphitheatre  we  have  no  means 
of  judging,  but  the  advertisements  of  the  games 
at  Pompeii  make  it  clear  that  the  Venatio  was 
as  popular  in  that  city  as  in  other  parts  of  the 
Empire.  The  following  is  a  translation  of  the 
most  important  of  these  advertisements  which 
has  survived  to  us: 

Twenty  pairs  of  gladiators  paid  for    by  Dec! m us  Lu- 
cretius Satrius    Valens,  priest ,  (flamtn)  in  the    time  of 


188 


POiMPEI 


THE  AMPHITflEATRE 


189 


Nero  the  son  of  Csesar  Augustus  ;  and  ten  pairs  of  gla- 
diators, paid  for  by  Decimus  Lucretius  the  son  of  De- 
cimus  Valens  will  light  at  Pompeii  on  the  nth,  13th 
and  14th  of  April. 

There  will  be  a  proper  hunting  scene  (legitima  Vena- 
tio)  and  the  awnings  will  be  spread.  Celer-Emilius  Celer 
writer  of  inscriptions,  wrote  this  by  moonlight. 

Turning  to  the  history  of  the  Pompeian  Am- 
phitheatre we  find  the  site  given  to  the  people 
by  Valgus  and  Porcius  the  Duumvirs  in  the 
time  of  Sulla,  but  the  construction  of  so  large 
and  costly  a  building  took  a  number  of  years, 
for  we  find  the  games  still  being  held  in  the 
-Forum  in  b.  c.  19,  and  we  further  find  a  record 
of  a  vote  of  the  Decurions  in  b.  c.  6  for  pro- 
ceeding with  the  construction  of  the  Amphithea- 
tre, showing  that  though  it  may  have  been  in 
use  it  was  not  yet  complete.  The  principal  en- 
trance to  the  building  was  at  the  northern  end 
of  the  ellipse,  and  leads  by  a  sloping  road  into 
the  arena  below.  Here  the  statues  of  Pansa  father 
and  son,  were  discovered  with  inscriptions  record- 
ing their  official  positions  in  the  city.  These 
statues  are  no  longer  extant,  but  the  inscriptions 
remain,  together  with  a  large  number  oi graffiti 
among  which  we  notice  a  record  of  the  unanimous 
election  of  Paquius  Proculus  a  baker  of  Pompeii 
to  be  Duumvir,  and  an  elegiac  couplet  congra- 


> 


! 


u 


tulating  the  wall  that  it  had  remained  standin 
in  spite  of  the  nonsense  of  so  many  scribblers: 

«  Admiror  paries  te  non  cecidisse  minis 
Qui  tot  scriptorum  taedia  sustineas  » 

There  was  a  similar  entrance  to  the  Arena 
on  the  southern  side,  and  from  both  of  them 
passages  ran  to  the  right  and  the  left  giving 
access  to  the  dens  beneath  the  seats. 

The  twenty  cunei  or  wedges  into  which  the 
ellipse  was  divided  were  presented  at  various 
periods  by  different  magistrates  on  their  acces- 
sion to  office,  and  their  munificence  was  recorded 
by  inscriptions  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  re- 
produce. 

The  Amphitheatre  was  divided  horizontally 
into  three  ranks,  and  on  the  top  of  the  lower 
wall  was  an  iron  railing  to  secure  the  spectators 
from  any  of  the  wild  beasts  jumping  out  of  the 
arena  into  the  audience.  This  wall  was  once 
stuccoed  and  painted  with  appropriate  scenes, 
but  these  have  all  vanished. 

The  small  door  in  the  centre  of  the  ellipse 
was  that  through  which  the  dead  bodies  of  the 
combatants  were  drawn  with  an  iron  hook  called 
uncus  to  a  circular  mortuary  cell  beneath  the 
seats.  It  was  a  common  form  of  insult  in  Roman 


190 


POMPEII 


times  to  tell  a  man  that  he  was  «  fit  only  for 
the  hook  ».  Of  this  slang  expression  there  is  an 
instance  on  the  walls  of  a  hoiise  which  we  shall 
notice  hereafter. 

Of  the  exterior  appearance  of  the  building 
we  are  able  to  form  a  tolerable  idea  from  an 
interesting  fresco  now  in  the  Entresol  of  the 
Naples  Museum  ,  from  which  it  would  appear 
that  a  boulevard  encompassed  three  sides  of  the 
building,  beneath  the  trees  of  w^hich  sellers  of 
refreshments  erected  their  stalls  and  awnings  in 
precisely  the  fashion  of  the  modern  Neapolitan 
acqtiaiiiolo!^  The  remainder  of  the  ellipse  is  girt 
by  the  fortifications. 

The  arcades  beneath  the  seats  were  let  out 
by  the  ^^diles  as  w^e  learn  from  the  inscriptions 
painted  up  in  them  of  which  the  following  is  a 
specimen  : 

PERMISSV.  ^DILIVM .  CN .  ANINIUS .  FORTUNATUS  .OCCUP. 

By  permission  of  the  ^diles,  Cneius  Aninius  Fortu- 
natus  occupies  {this  arch). 

*  The  drawing  alluded  to  is  so  roughly  done  that  it 
is  unsafe  to  rely  upon  it  as  a  proof  of  the  relative  po- 
sitions of  the  Amphitheatre  and  the  city  walls.  It  was 
evidently  drawn  from  memory,  and  was  intended  as  a 
record  of  the  riot,  and  not  as  a  picture  of  the  Amphi- 
theatre. 


THE  AMPHITHEATRE 


191 


<) 


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4 

f^  i 

11 

1 

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J 

i 

V 

i 

r 

The  galleries  of  the  Amphitheatre  are  acces- 
sible from  the  outside  ,  and  it  is  desirable  to 
mount  the  steps  in  order  to  appreciate  the  scale 
of  the  building,  which  can  be  best  done  from 
this  point  by  sending  one  of  the  party  to  the 
centre  of  the  arena. 

The  fresco  to  which  we  have  already  alluded 
gives  us  a  rough  idea  of  an  historic  scene  which 
took  place  in  this  Amphitheatre  in  the  year  69 
A.  D.  in  the  reign  of  Nero.  It  would  appear  that 
by  the  munificence  of  one  Livinius  Regulus  some 
sports  were  to  be  held  at  Pompeii ,  and  that 
the  inhabitants  of  the  neighbouring  important 
town  of  Nuceria  attended  them  in  considerable 
numbers.  We  do  not  know  how  the  dispute 
between  the  Pompeians  and  their  visitors  arose; 
but  at  any  rate  from  words,  the  factions  seem 
to  have  come  to  blows;  and  the  fresco  repre- 
sents a  free  fight  taking  place  upon  the  seats, 
and  in  the  vicinity  of  the  buildings.  Whether 
the  gladiators  joined  in  and  added  a  professio- 
nal element  to  the  contest  we  cannot  say,  but 
it  is  certain  that  the  Nucerines  were  defeated 
with  great  slaughter,  and  that  the  riot  assumed 
alarming  proportions.  So  much  so  indeed,  that 
the  matter  was  referred  to  the  Senate  at  Rome, 
who  brought  it  before  the  Emperor:  he  referred 
it  back  to  the  Senate,  and  in  the  end  an  edict 


192 


POMPEII 


THE  GATE  OF  NOLA 


193 


was  issued  prohibiting  games  in  the  Pompeian 
Amphitheatre  for  ten  years.  This  edict  after 
being  in  force  throughout  the  years  when  the 
city  was  deserted  on  account  of  the  earthquake, 
would  expire  in  69  a.  d.  and  consequently  the 
sports  had  been  taken  up  again  only  some  ten 
years  before  the  destruction  of  the  town.  It  is 
calculated  that  the  building  was  constructed  to 
hold  twenty-thousand  people  and  it  is  certain 
fhat  it  was  frequently  thronged  with  spectators. 

The  usual  manner  of  opening  the  programme 
tor  the  day  was  by  a  procession  of  the  perfor- 
mers who  marched  round  the  arena;  and  saluted 
the  giver  of  the  games  who  occupied  the  post 
of  honour  by  the  statue  of  the  Emperor.  This 
with  the  Curule  chair,  the  ancient  emblem  of 
the  Kingly  power,  was  placed  over  the  principal 
entrance,  if  the  monarch  were  not  present  in 
person.  The  form  of  salutation  was  Morituri 
te  salutamtis.  <  We  who  are  about  to  die  salute 
you  >  an  inexpressibly  pathetic  form  of  address 
which  one  might  have  thought  sufficient  to  recall 
even  a  Roman  Emperor  to  a  sense  of  shame. 

The  proceedings  usually  began  by  a  sham 
fight  with  wooden  swords  ,  to  get  the  men's 
blood  up ,  and  to  excite  the  spectators.  The 
gladiators  were  then  matched  and  the  bloody 
business  of  the  day   was    begun.  And    when  it 


0 


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i 


m 


was  all  over  and  the  excited  throng  made  their 
way  homewards  discussing  the  sights  they  had 
witnessed,  and  gloating  over  the  horrors  of  that 
awful  Arena,  the  dead  were  drawn  out  from  the 
charnel  house  and  burnt,  the  wounded  were 
conveyed  to  the  Ludiis  Gladiatorius ,  the  la- 
nista  counted  up  his  gains,  and  set  them  against 
the  value  of  the  human  beings  who  had  been 
slain  ;  the  giver  of  the  entertainment  calculated 
the  cost  of  the  show  and  how  many  votes  it 
would  secure  him  at  the  coming  election,  as  he 
bowed  right  and  left  to  the  populace  who  gave 
him  Imperial  honours  as  the  hero  of  the  hour! 

The  Gate  of  Nola(i748)  sometimes  miscalled  the 
Gate  of  Isis,  is  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  city, 
in  that  part  of  the  wall  where  the  defences 
were  the  weakest  and  the  town  consequently 
most  liable  to  surprise.  On  this  account  the 
construction  of  it  is  different  from  that  of  the 
other  gates ,  and  strategically  speaking  much 
superior  to  it.  The  Gate  with  its  arch  is 
completely  within  the  walls,  and  these  run  out 
for  several  yards  beyond  it,  the  paved  way 
between  them  sloping  outwards  ,  and  the  cul- 
de-sac  formed  by  the  walls  being  flanked  by 
two  towers  and  some  very  solid  masonry.  The 
walls  moreover  form  a  sharp  angle  at  the  outer 

'3 


194 


POMPEII 


THE  GATE  OF  HERCULANEUM 


195 


extremity  of  the  cul-de-sac  ,  so  that  no  enemy 
could  approach  the  gate  without  being  taken  in 
flank.  The  keystone  of  the  arch  on  the  inner 
side  is  adorned  with  a  female  head  in  high  re- 
lief, which  owing  to  an  error  in  reading  the 
Oscan  inscription  which  was  once  beside  it,  was 
long  thought  to  be  Isis  ,  by  whose  name  the 
Gate  has  accordingly  been  called.  Overbeck 
corrects  the  error  made,  and  sets  out  the  in- 
scription thus:  V.  Popidiis  V.  med:  tut:  aama- 
fluffed  isidu  profatted.  <  Vibius  Popidius  son  of 
Vibius,  Medix  tuticus  (equivalent  to  the  Roman 
/TAWe)  allowed  this  gate  to  be  built  and  ap- 
proved it.  > 

It  will  be  seen  from  the  above  that  the  word 
iszdu  profatted  in  the  inscription  misled  the  first 
discoverers  who  supposed  that  it  referred  to  a 
Prophet  of  Isis,  and  made  them  recognise  that 
goddess  in  the  female  head  which  Overbeck 
with  much  greater  probability  claims  to  be  a 
Mmerva.  He  sees  upon  the  head  traces  of  a 
helmet,  but  the  upper  part  of  it  is  now  so  mu- 
tilated that  we  confess  that  we  cannot  follow 
him  here.  As  the  other  Gates  we  have  noticed 
were  under  the  patronage  of  Minerva,  there  is 
every  probability  that  this  one  was  also  dedi- 
cated to  her. 


/■s 


Vt 


9     "m^ 


\: 


J 


«i 


^v 


t 


The  Gate  of  Herculaneum  (1763-64-69)  was  un- 
doubtedly the  most  modern  and  in  the  later  times 
the  most  important  of  the  city  gates.  It  is  quite 
different  in  character  from  all  the  others  ,  and 
was  most  probably  built  in  its  present  form  after 
the  siege  of  Sulla. 

It  appears  likely  that  when  he  became  master 
of  the  position,  his  first  step  was  to  dismantle 
the  city;  and  it  does  not  seem  too  much  to 
conjecture  that  he  caused  the  outer  walls  of  the 
watch-towers  to  be  pulled  down,  destroyed  the 
gate  which  once  stood  on  the  site  of  the  pre- 
sent Gate  of  Herculaneum,  ruined  the  wall  from 
thence  to  the  Stabian  Gate,  and  felt  secure  that 
the  defences  of  the  city  could  give  no  further 
trouble.  The  walls  were  never  repaired,  and 
remain  now  as  Sulla  left  them;  but  the  Romans 
in  later  times  rebuilt  the  Gate  because  it  had 
become  the  chief  business  entrance  to  their  city, 
and  because  it  opened  upon  the  Street  of  the 
Tombs,  which  besides  being  their  €  Westminster 
Abbey  >,  was  the  principal  public  walk  they  had 
outside  their  walls. 

The  Gate  has  three  divisions ,  one  in  the 
centre  which  formed  the  carriage-way,  and  two 
narrower  ones  to  the  right  and  left  of  it  for 
foot  passengers.  These  entrances  had  wooden 
doors  at  the  city  end  of  the  archway,  while  on 


196 


POMPEII 


THE  WALLS  OF  POMPEII 


197 


the  outer  side  the  central  arch  was  closed  by 
a  portcullis,  and  the  side  arches  with  iron  doors. 
There  was  no  attempt  to  make  the  Gate  into 
a  fortification.  It  was  merely  an  ordinary  gate- 
way, and  never  had  any  military  pretension 
about  it  at  all,  and  certainly  never  could  have 
had  any  great  architectural  beauty  to  recommend 
It.  Nor  were  any  inscriptions  found  to  give  us 
any  trace  of  its  history,  which  is  accordingly  to 
be' conjectured- only  from  the  character  of  the 
ruins. 

The  Walls  of  Pompeii  may  be  conveniently  studied 
from  the  eastern  side  of  this  Gate,  and  fortu- 
nately this  is  the  most  perfect  part  of  them  as 
well  as  the  most  accessible.  Their  construction 
is  admirable,  although  the  work  of  successive 
ages  may  readily  be  traced  upon  them.  The 
lower  part  is  of  huge  blocks  of  travertine  so 
neatly  joined  together  without  mortar  that  some 
writers  have  referred  them  to  the  Pelasgic  period. 
A  comparison  with  the  Pelasgic  wall  at  Scauro 
near  Gaeta,  leads  us  to  conclude  that  this  im- 
putes to  them  a  higher  antiquity  than  can  fairly 
be  claimed  for  them,  but  they  have  been  subjected 
to  many  modifications  in  the  course  of  their 
eventful  history,  and  owing  to  the  alteration  of 
the  surface  of  the  ground  by  the  great  eruption, 


«) 


M 


\ 


^» 


I 

M 


I 


,«• 


they  present  to  our  minds  many  problems  which 
in  the  existing  state  of  our  knowledge  are  not 
easy  of  solution. 

We  cannot  be  sure  whether  there  was  a  trench 
outside  the  wall  but  in  all  probability  there  was, 
because  the  walls  being  double  with  an  earth- 
work between  them  it  would  seem  certain  that 
the  builders  would  make  a  trench  if  only  to  obtain 
the  necessary  earth  for  their  rampart.  The 
battlements  are  of  different  stone  from  the  lower 
part  of  the  walls,  but  both  are  of  remarkably 
good  construction  ,  and  the  frequency  of  the 
towers  on  the  North  Side  of  the  city  leads  us 
to  infer  that  this  part  of  the  fortification  required 
to  be  of  greater  strength  than  the  rest  as  the 
nature  of  the  ground  at  this  point  did  not  adapt 
itself  to  strategical  necessities.  The  outer  face 
of  the  towers  has  been  pulled  down  so  that  its 
construction  cannot  even  be  conjectured,  but  it 
is  clear  that  they  were  two  stories  in  height, 
as  this  is  indicated  by  the  remains  of  the  stair- 
case, while  the  first  tower  had  a  secret  way 
into  the  town  by  means  of  a  tunnel  within  the 
a£-£-er,  which  opens  into  the  ground-floor  room 
of  the  first  house  on  the  right  as  one  descends 
the  wall  from  this  tower  towards  the  city.  That 
such  a  passage  could  be  of  much  practical  use 
may  be  reasonably  doubted,  and  we  think  that 


198 


POMPEII 


on  inspection  it  will  be  admitted  that  it  was  a 
later  addition.  There  is  nothing  about  the  house 
to  make  us  infer  that  it  was  the  official  residence 
of  anyone  connected  with  the  garrison  ,  and  if 
it  was  not,  it  is  hardly  easy  to  understand  the 
object  with  which  such  a  passage  was  constructed. 
There  is  a  legend  concerning  this  passage 
related  by  Beule  in  his  book  Le  Drame  dii  Vi- 
suve  and  repeated  in  a  pamphlet  by  Ludovico 
Pepe  1887,  which  states  that  the  skeletons  of  a 
man  and  his  dog  were  found  in  this  passage, 
and  that  the  bones  of  the  man  had  been  gnawed 
by  the  dog,  showing  that  the  man  had  died  first, 
and  that  the  dog  had  maintained  life  for  some 
time  upon  the  corpse  of  his  master.  As  this  pas- 
sage was  discovered  more  than  a  hundred  years 
ago,   we  do  not  place  much  faith  in  the  story. 


\ 


ic 


t 


4 
t 

I 


^<. 


•#j 


V 


V 


■i 


L^ 


I 


CHAPTER  IX 

THE  STREET  OF  THE   TOMBS 

Burial  and  Cremation —  The  Survey  of  Suedius — Funeral 
Rites — The  Blue  Amphora — The  Street  of  the  Tombs — 
The  Sepulchres  of  Restitutus  and  Mamia —  The  House 
of  Frugi — The  Ustrinum — The  Cenotaph  of  Calven- 
tius  Quietus—  The  Bisellium —  The  Tomb  of  Ntsvoleia 
Tyche — The  Triclinium  of  Saturninus — Garlands — 
Mourning — The  House  of  Diomede  —  The  Ossuary  — 
Samnite  Tombs  and  traces  of  a  Burial  petiod — The 
Inn — The  House  of  the  Mosaic  Columns — The  Tomb 
of  Terentius. 

Throughout  the  history  of  the  world,  the 
measure  of  respect  paid  to  the  dead  has  been 
an  index  of  the  state  of  civilisation  of  the  living, 
and  the  sanctity  of  the  grave  has  made  the 
tombs  of  antiquity  the  treasure-chambers  of 
scientific  archaeology.  We  also  find  that  burial 
and  cremation  have  shared  public  favour  in  well- 
defined  cycles;  that  a  period  of    cremation  has 


200 


POMPEII 


succeded  a  period  of  burial  and  vice  versa 
throughout  history  ;  indeed  many  people  assert, 
that  at  the  present  moment  the  civilised  world 
is  entering  upon  a  period  of  cremation,  and  that 
burial ,  now  the  rule  ,  will  in  the  next  century 
become  the  exception. 

Nearly  all  the  tombs  hitherto  found  at  Pom- 
peii are  of  cremation  periods,  for,  in  the  first 
century,  the  Christians ,  following  the  Jewish 
custom  reintroduced  burial,*  and  of  Christianity 
we  have  as  yet  discovered  no  trace  at  Pompeii. 

A  few  unimportant  Samnite  tombs,  and  a  few 
tombs,  of  an  ancient  burial  period  have  been 
discovered  near  this  necropolis  ,  and  the  vases 
found  in  them  may  be    seen  in  the    gallery  of 

*  Though  the  question  of  Christian  burials  is  foreign 
to  our  subject  the  following  reflections  will  be  interesting. 
In  the  Gospel  of  St  John  xix  40.  we  read  that  «  they 
took  the  body  of  Jesus  and  wound  it  in  linen  clothes 
with  the  spices  as  the  manner  of  the  Jews  is  to  bury», 
showing  that  the  Jewish  and  Gentile  modes  of  burial 
were  diverse.  Our  Lord,  moreover,  was  buried  in  a  tomb 
hewn  out  of  the  rock,  the  door  of  which  was  vertical 
and  secured  by  a  large  stone,  which  had  to  be  «  rolled 
away  »  before  the  sepulchre  could  be  entered.  That  the 
Christians  adhered  to  this  method  of  sepulture  is  abun- 
dantly evident  from  the  catacombs  both  of  Rome  and 
Naples;  and  as  far  as  we  know  the  Christians  never 
adopted  cremation. 


THE  STREET » OF  THE  TOMBS 


201 


V 


>-/ 


the  Pompeii  museum  (see  chap.  v.).  These  date 
about  2  5o  B.  c,  but  in  our  opinion  the  majority 
of  the  Roman  tombs  of  the  necropolis,  date  from 
the  reign  of  Vespasian. 

Our  reason  for  this  statement  is  founded  on 
the  following  inscription  which  will  be  seen  on 
tomb  No.  5  on  the  left  hand  about  twenty  yards 
from  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum.  It  runs  as  follows: 

«  By  Authority  of  Vespasian,  Suedius  Clemens  Tribune 
having  heard  the  pleadings  and  made  the  measurements, 
restored  to  the  Republic  of  Pompeii ,  the  public  sites 
which  had  been  encroached  upon  by  private  persons  ». 

It  seems  perfectly  clear  from  this,  that  in  the 
time  of  Vespasian  (69  to  79  a.  d.),  the  Pom- 
peians  desired  to  constitute  a  public  cemetery 
outside  their  new  Gate,  and  found  that  tow^n  lands 
had  been  usurped  by  private  individuals.  They 
applied  to  Vespasian,  who  sent  Suedius  Clemens 
the  Tribune,  to  look  into  the  matter.  He  sur- 
veyed the  ground,  put  up  the  inscription  at  the 
point  where  his  survey  commenced ,  and  the 
grateful  citizens  placed  his  statue  over  the  in- 
scription.  (See  Naples  Museum  No  6235). 

Again  the  tomb  next  above  this  inscription 
is  that  of  Mamia,  the  public  priestess,  by  whom 
the  so-called  temple  of  Mercury  was  dedicated. 
It  is  confessedly  open  to  doubt  whether  this  is,  or 


202 


POMPEII 


is  not,  the  temple  to  the  <  genius  of  Augustus  > 
which  we  learn  from  a  stray  inscription  was 
dedicated  by  her  ,  but  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  she  dedicated  a  temple  to  the  aforesaid 
genius  somewhere  or  other  in  Pompeii;  and  the 
fact  that  she  had  a  sepulchre  given  her  by  the 
town  ,  is  evident  from  the  inscription  on  her 
tomb.  Hence  we  may  certainly  argue  that  her's 
was  one  of  the  earliest  tombs  outside  this  gate, 
and  most  certainly  erected  after  the  deification 
of  Augustus.  This  Emperor  died  a.  d.  14  and 
Vespasian  succeeded  to  the  throne  fiftyfive  years 
afterwards. 

The  first  tomb  outside  the  gate  was  that  of 
Cerrinius  Restitutus,  an  Augustal,  and  was  the- 
refore of  course  of  a  post-Augustan  period;  the 
next  was  of  Veius  a  military  Tribune  ;  the  next 
of  Marcus  Porcius  who  was  probably  the  father 
of  Mamia,  as  the  letters  p.  f.  on  her  tomb  seem 
to  stand  for  Porci  filia;  and  then  we  come  to 
that  of  Mamia,  and  immediately  afterwards  we 
find  the  inscription  of  Suedius  Clemens. 

We  think  we  are  accordingly  justified  in  the 
inference  that  Suedius  Clemens  erected  his  Ve- 
spasian inscription  at  the  point  where  his  survey 
began,  and  that  the  encroachments  complained 
of  commenced  lower  down  than  the  tomb  of 
Mamia.  The  nature  of  the  ground  coincides  with 


THE  STREET  OF  THE  TOMBS 


203 


e- 


tr. 


I 


\ 


this  hypothesis,  for  there  is  a  well-paved  road  to 
the  left  which  led  down  towards  the  sea  between 
the  tomb  of  Mamia  and  the  inscription  of  Suedius. 
To  sum  up  the  matter  w^e  think  it  certain 
that  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum  was  built  after 
the  time  of  Augustus  ,  and  that  the  first  four 
tombs  on  the  left,  were  before  the  time  of  Ve- 
spasian. That  after  his  accession  the  Pompeians 
were  anxious  to  extend  their  cemetery  and  ap- 
plied to  the  Emperor  to  rescue  the  town  lands 
from  the  encroachments  of  private  persons;  and 
that  the  Emperor  thereupon  appointed  Suedius 
Clemens  to  inquire  into  the  matter.  The  result 
of  his  inquiry  was  the  establishment  of  the  street 
as  we  now  find  it,  and  the  tombs  beyond  his 
inscription  are  consequently  all  of  a  date  within 
ten  years  of  the  destruction  of  the  city. 

In  order  to  arrive  at  a  correct  understanding 
of  this  remarkable  necropolis  it  will  be  advisable 
to  say  a  few  words  on  the  funeral  customs  of 
the  Romans. 

Funerals  were  of  two  kinds,  public  and  pri- 
vate; the  former  being  paid  for  by  the  State, 
the  latter  by  the  family  of  the  deceased. 

It  is  abundantly  evident  that  the  street  we 
are  considering  was  primarily  intended  for  public 
funerals ,  and  that    we    have  not   yet    hit   upon 


204 


POMPEII 


THE  STREET  OF  THE  TOMBS 


'205 


the  necropolis  used  by  the  upper  class  of  private 
citizens.  Experimental  excavations  have  disclosed 
some  isolated  tombs  in  other  places,  but  noth- 
ing like  a  regular  cemetery  has  yet  been  dis- 
covered, and  it  is  confidently  believed  that  no 
more  public  tombs  exist  in  this  street  beyond 
those  already  excavated.  It  is  true  that  these 
public  tombs  \\ere  in  fact  family  vaults  in  which 
many  persons  were  buried  besides  the  man  they 
were  originally  granted  to,  but  there  must  be 
a  necropolis  somewhere  else  for  wealthy  people 
who   were  unconnected   with  political  life. 

We  will  now  consider  the  public  funerals  of 
the  Romans  ,  premising  that  the  private  cere- 
monies w^ould  probably  differ  but  little  from  them; 
excepting  that  they  w^ould  usually  be  conducted 
on  a  smaller  scale ,  and  with  less  pomp  and 
circumstance. 

When  a  man  of  importance  died  ,  a  cypress 
tree  was  placed  at  his  door  in  token  of  mourn- 
ing, his  body  was  anointed  and  laid  out,  he  was 
dressed  in  his  official  robes,  and  lay  in  state  in 
ithe  vestibule  of  his  house  with  his  feet  towards 
the  door.  A  coin  was  placed  in  his  mouth,  as 
an  earnest  of  the  honesty  with  which  the  soul 
would  pay  its  way  across  the  Styx ,  and  this 
coin  is  very  valuable  to  us  as  indicating  approx- 
imately the  date  of  the  burial. 


^ 


When  the  day    of   the    funeral    arrived ,    the 
Master  of  the  Ceremonies  at  the  house  of  the 
deceased  marshalled  the  procession    which  was 
headed    by  the    lic"^rs  ,  dressed    in  black,   and 
followed  by  musicians  .\nd  paid  Mourners,  male 
and  female  who  gave   vcr.'   to  v*       wildest    ex- 
pression of   grief,  and    chanti^J  a   t'^^^  -nl  di  yr 
in  honour    of  the    deceased.    Another    ciass  of 
professionals  wearing  wax   masks  preceded  the 
corpse  and  were  held  to  represent  the  shades  of 
the  ancestors    of  the  defunct ,  and  after    these 
follow^ed  1  mimic,   who  imitated  the  words  and 
actions    w^hich  had    been    characteristic    of  the 
departed  in  his  lifetime.  Next  came  the  Liberti 
or  freedmen  w^hom  the    deceased  had  liberated 
during  his  life,  or  who  had  obtained  their  liberty 
under  his  will.  These  were  sometimes  very  nu- 
merous,  as  by  this  means  a  Roman  added  pomp 
to  his  funeral  at  no  expense  to  himself;  a  weak- 
ness  of  human    nature    which  finds    its  vent  in 
our  day  in  charitable    bequests ,  too  frequently 
given  by  testators  at  the  expense  of  their  near 
relations.  The  bier,  which  was  often  of  a  most 
costly  description,   was  carried  by  the  relations 
or  by   persons    of    importance  ,  to  the    Forum, 
where  funeral    orations    were    delivered    before 
proceeding  to  the  cemetery. 

On  arrival  there,  the  body  was  placed  on  a 


206 


POMPEII 


THE  STREET  OF  THE  TOMBS 


207 


funeral  pyre  in  the  Ustrinum ,  an  enclosure 
where  the  cremation  was  carried  out.  Here  the 
body  was  sprinkled  wnth  perfumes  and  wine, 
and  the  chief  mourner  with  averted  face  set  light 
to  the  pile,  upon  which  the  relatives  continued 
to  heap  offerings  till  the  corpse  was  entirely 
consumed.  The  ashes  were  then  collected  and 
put  in  a  cinerary  urn  ,  which  was  placed  in  a 
niche  in  the  tomb.  The  site  of  the  tomb  was 
given  by  the  town,  but  the  tomb  itself  seems 
to  have  been  erected  by  the  family. 

The  cinerary  urns  of  antiquity  form  a  most 
interesting  study.  In  South  Italy  they  may  be 
reckoned  as  extending  (with  some  intervals) 
over  five  hundred  years,  but  in  our  present  work 
we  have  only  to  do  with  those  of  the  first  cen- 
tury of  our  era.  These  were  of  glass,  lead,  or 
terra-cotta,  the  glass  urns  being  sometimes  en- 
cased in  lead.  Specimens  of  these  with  human 
ashes  in  them  are  exhibited  in  the  Naples  Mu- 
seum. The  most  important  cinerary  vase  of  the 
Roman  period  found  in  Pompeii  is  the  celebrated 
blue  amphora  with  exquisite  designs  in  white 
glass  fused  upon  it.  It  is  similar  in  character  to 
the  Portland  Vase  now  in  the  British  Museum 
though  less  pure  in  design. 

The  latter  was  found  in  a  tomb  near  Rome. 
They  are    the    only    two    specimens    extant  of 


•1 
4, 


1^ 

>1 


f 


^% 


% 


work  of  this  kind  adapted  to  this  purpose.  The 
Portland  vase  represents  the  meeting  of  Peleus 
and  Thetis  on  Mount  Ida;  the  Pompeii  vase  a 
vintage  scene  performed  by  graceful  Cupids. 
Both  are  exquisite,  but  the  Portland  vase  is  the 
more  classic  of  the  two. 

The  Street  of  the  Tombs  is  the  only  road 
outside  the  town  w^hich  has  been  cleared  to  any 
important  extent.  It  is  a  wide  road  with  broad 
footways  carefully  protected  by  a  wide  curb- 
stone and  lined  on  both  sides  with  the  tombs 
of  important  officials.  There  were  besides  the 
tombs  four  houses  in  this  street ,  namely  ,  the 
houses  of  Frugi  and  Diomede  on  the  left,  and 
the  house  of  the  Mosaic  Columns,  and  a  larae 
building  thought  to  have  been  a  suburban  inn 
on  the  right.  Of  these  the  House  of  Frugi  was 
excavated  long  ago,  and  again  filled  up,  the 
House  of  Diomede  is  one  of  the  largest  and 
most  perfect  in  the  excavations,  and  the  other 
two  are  almost  devoid  of  interest. 

The  most  important  tombs  are  on  the  left  or 
western  side  of  the  street,  and  commence  with 
the  tomb  of  Marcus  Cerrinius  Restitutus ,  an 
Augustal.  This  would  scarcely  be  worth  mention- 
ing, were  it  not  that  it  was  long  supposed  to 
be  a  sentry-box,  and  the  legend  of  the  soldier 
dying  at  his  post  was  invented  and  applied  to  it. 


20S 


POMPEII 


THE  STREET  OF  THE  TOMBS 


209 


There  is  in  the  Naples  Museum  a  helmet  much 
oxydised  by  lapilli  which  was  long  shown  with 
a  skull  in  it,  as  the  helmet  worn  by  the  above- 
named  sentry.  This  fraud  gave  currency  to  the 
story  ;  but  the  skull  has  long  since  been  removed 
from  the  helmet,  and  the  legend  is  falling  into 
well-deserved  oblivion. 

The  seat  and  tomb  of  Mamia  are  important 
features  of  the  street,  the  former  being  a  stone 
hemicycle  of  the  usual  character  with  an  easily 
legible  inscription  cut  all  round  the  back  of  it 
in  unusually  large  letters 

MAMIAE  .  P  .  F  .  SACERDOTI  .  PUBLICAE  .  LOCVS  . 
SEPVLTVR  .  DATVS  .  DECVRIONVM  .  DECRETO  . 

To  Mamia  the  daughter  of  Porcus,  public  priestess,  a 
place  for  sepulture  was  given  by  decree  of  the  Decurions. 

The  tomb  stands  behind  the  seat  and  is  a 
handsome  building  surrounded  by  pillars  of  the 
Corinthian  order,  and  having  an  area  all  round 
it.  The  ashes  of  Mamia  were  in  a  clay  urn  with 
a  leaden  cover,  and  occupied  the  niche  of  honour 
in  the  centre  of  the  tomb;  round  it  were  ten 
other  niches,  and  in  the  area  of  the  tomb  as 
well  as  in  the  vacant  space  behind  the  hemicycle 
a  great  number  of  people  had  been  buried  show- 


iJr 


j1 


t, 


ing  certainly  that  Mamia's  death  must  have  taken 
place  several  years  before  the  destruction  of  the 
city;  for  it  is  obvious  that  her's  would  be  the 
first  ashes  deposited  there;  and  the  fact  that 
among  the  others  we  find  Istacidius  with  his 
son  and  daughter,  three  members  of  the  Melissea 
family,  and  two  of  the  Bucci,  leads  us  to  con- 
clude that  the  hospitality  of  Mamia  extended  to 
the  ashes  of  her  friends  for  at  least  a  genera- 
tion, lliis  would  make  her  tomb  date  about  a. 
D.  40,  and  justify  our  former  conjecture  concern- 
ing it. 

If  Suedius  Clemens  had  left  us  a  plan  of  his 
work  instead  of  his  portrait ,  he  would  have 
been  better  entitled  to  our  o^ratitude  and  saved 
us  from  a  good  deal  of  barren  conjecture;  but 
it  is  quite  clear  that  his  survey  gave  general 
satisfaction,  or  his  portrait  would  not  have  oc- 
cupied so  honourable  a  position. 

Immediately  below  it ,  was  the  garden  and 
Villa  of  Marcus  Crassus  Frugi,  a  house  we  have 
mentioned  as  having  been  excavated  in  the  early 
days  and  filled  up  again  afterwards.  It  w^as  a 
magnificent  house,  complete  with  shops  and  upper 
story,  surrounded  by  trees  and  terraces,  with  a 
large  water  tank  of  its  own ,  and  a  bathing 
establishment  where  salt  or  fresh  water  baths 
might  be  enjoyed  at   pleasure.  The    inscription 

14 


210 


POMPEII 


THE  STREET  OF  THE  TOMBS 


211 


relating  to  these  baths  was  found  built  into  one 
of  the  walls  of  the  garden  and  evidently  not  in 
its  original  place.   It  runs  thus: 

THERMS. 

M    .    CRASSI    .    FRVGI 

AQUA    .    MARINA    .    ET    .    BALN 

AQVA    .    DULCI    .    lANVARIVS    .    L 

«  Warm  baths  of  M.  Crassus  Frugi.  With  salt  water 
and  fresh  water  baths.  Kept  by  the  freedman  Januarius.  » 

The  house  was  adorned  with  the  best  single- 
figure  paintings  yet  discovered  ,  namely  the 
famous  Bacchantes  or  dancing  girls  ,  the  Roper- 
dancers,  and  the  charming  groups  of  Centaurs 
as  well  as  the  famous  theatrical  mosaics  by 
Dioscorides  of  Samos^  which  are,  as  far  as  we 
know,  the  only  signed  mosaics  of  antiquity. 

It  is  much  to  be  regretted  that  so  remarkable 
a  house  should  no  longer  be  visible  ,  and  the 
more  so  because  it  is  reputed  to  have  been  the 
Pompeian  villa  of  Cicero  ,  and  therefore  has  a 
special  historical  interest.  There  are  two  plau- 
sible reasons  why  this  should  have  been  Cicero's 
house;  the  first,  that  he  states  that  if  his  sight 
were  keen  enough  he  would  be  able  to  see  Baiae 
from  his  Pompeian    villa,  and  this    observation 


< 


;.ii"^i 


suits  with  no  other  site  so  well  as  it  does  .with 
this  one.  The  second  reason  is  that  it  was  outside 
the  walls,  and  he  tells  us  that  when  he  was  there 
during  the  Civil  War,  Ninnius  Quadratus  told 
him  that  the  Centurions  of  the  cohorts  stationed 
at  Pompeii  desired  him  to  remain  till  next  day, 
in  order  that  they  might  give  up  themselves 
and  their  city  to  him.  He  suspected  intrigue  on 
their  part,  and  having  no  confidence  in  them, 
left  the  place  before  daybreak  so  that  they  should 
not  be  able  to  find  him.  Now  it  is  unlikely  that 
so  important  a  person  should  have  been  able 
to  leave  the  city  unobserved  had  his  house 
been  within  the  walls,  whereas  from  the  house 
of  Frugi  he  could  no  doubt  readily  escape  with- 
out detection. 

It  his  naturally  only  a  matter  of  fanciful  in- 
terest which  particular  house  was  inhabited  by 
Cicero,  but  there  is  a  problem  arising  out  of 
this  necropolis  which  has  never  been  satisfactorily 
answered,  and  that  is  where  the  cremation  ground 
was.  We  know  that  the  spot  where  the  bodies 
were  burnt  was  called  Ustrinum  by  the  Romans, 
and  we  known  further  that  some  of  their  tombs 
were  built  with  a  private  burning  place  beside 
them.  No  such  tomb  occurs  at  Pompeii,  and 
consequently  there  must  have  been  a  public 
place  where  the  process  was  carried  on.  In  our 


212 


POMPEir 


days  a  Crematorium  is  a  closed  furnace  where 
the  body  is  incinerated  without  smell  and  with- 
out difficulty.  Indeed  if  the  electric  light  su- 
persedes gas;  our  present  gasworks  would  w^ith 
very  little  modification  make  excellent  crematoria^ 
but  in  Roman  times  there  were  no  such  conve- 
niences, and  the  bodies  were  simply  burned  upon 
a  heap  of  logs,  and  in  the  open  air.  Any  one 
who  has  enjoyed  an  evening  drive  at  Bombay 
knows  that  the  process  is  not  altogether  inodo- 
rous, and  we  can  hardly  suppose  that  wealthy 
citizens  such  as  those  who  inhabited  the  House 
of  Frugi  or  the  Villa  of  Diomede  would  have 
tolerated  a  nuisance  of  the  kind  at  their  doors. 
Hence  w^e  must  discard  the  notion  that  the 
Ustrimtm  was  behind  the  tomb  of  Scaurus,  and 
w^e  must  read  between  the  lines  when  Professor 
Fiorelli  places  Ustrino  in  his  index,  and  w^e  find 
on  turning  to  the  text ; 

<<  35-  36-  On  the  right  is  a  monument  either  destroyed 
or  unfinished,  and  an  area  surrounded  by  a  wall  ». 

The  Professor's  silence  is  eloquent;  and  means 
to  say  that  he  has  not  beefi  able  to  identify 
the  locality  of  the  ustrinum.  And  for  our  own 
part  we  feel  confident  that  the  place  of  burning 
is  one  of  the  many  problems  of  Pompeii  which 
still  await  solution. 


't 


I, 


I  i 


)i 


\ 


THE  STREET  OF  THE  TOMBS 


213 


It  is  scarcely  worth  while  in  a  modern  w^ork 
to  give  the  details  of  tombs  wdien  such  details 
are  nonexistent.  It  is  most  unfortunate  that  the 
decorations  of  some  of  the  tombs  being  in  stucco 
have  perished  from  the  weather,  but  pictures  of 
their  reliefs  will  be  found  in  the  illustrated 
books,  copied  from  the  old  but  important  w^ork 
of  Mazois  on  Pompeii. 

We  must  not  how^ever  pass  over  No.  26  w^hich 
is  the  Cenotaph  of  Calventius  Quietus,  because 
cenotaphs  represent  an  interesting  phase  of  the 
posthumous  honours  paid  to  the  deceased  by  the 
Romans.  The  word  signifies  «  an  empty  tomb  > 
and  such  buildings  w^ere  habitually  erected  to 
people  w^ho  had  passed  away  without  having 
burial  rites.  Thus  if  a  man  were  drowned  at  sea 
or  killed  in  battle,  a  tomb  was  erected  for  him 
at  home  in  the  belief  that  this  would    mve  his 

o 

spirit  rest,  and  a  safe  transit  across  the  Styx. 
The  idea  is  pathetic  ,  and  is  frequently  made 
use  of  by  the  poets,  sometimes  by  making  the 
unburied  corpse  re-appear,  sometimes,  as  in 
Horace's  well-know^n  ode,  by  making  the  spirit 
beg  the  passing  stranger  to  cast  a  handful  of 
sand  upon  the  unburied  corpse  ,  in  token  that 
rites  of  some  kind  had  been  performed  upon  it, 
so  that  the  wandering  soul  might  have  rest. 
We  do  not  know  anything  about    Calventius 


214 


POMPEII 


Quietus  further  than  the  fact  that  he  was  not 
buried  in  his  tomb,  and  besides  this  ,  such  of 
his  history  as  is  related  by  his  laconic  epitaph 
which  runs  as  follows;  «  To  Calventius  Quietus 
Augustal.  To  him,  on  account  of  his  liberality, 
the  honour  of  the  bisellium  was  granted  by  de- 
cree of  the  Decurions  and  by  the  consent  of 
the  people.  » 

It  is  necessary  that  we  should  here  explain 
what  is  meant  by  the  <  honour  of  the  bisellium  > 
a  phrase  which  occurs  on  some  of  the  tombs 
in  the  street  before  us.  The  only  classical  writer 
who  makes  use  of  the  word  bisellium  is  Varro, 
but  there  is  no  doubt  that  the  right  of  using 
this  seat  on  public  occasions  was  granted  to 
important  persons  by  the  Decurions  in  provincial 
towns.  A  representation  of  the  seat  in  basrelief 
with  its  footstool  will  be  observed  on  the  tomb 
of  Naevoleia  No.  22  and  two  specimens  of  bi- 
sellia,  one  adorned  with  the  heads  of  horses, 
the  other  with  the  heads  of  asses,  may  be  seen 
in  the  Naples  Museum.  The  British  Museum 
also  has  a  very  elegant  one,  much  lighter  than 
those  from  Pompeii,  the  provenance  of  which  is 
unknown  ,  but  it  came  to  the  nation  with  the 
Temple  collection.  The  word  bisellium  would 
naturally  indicate  a  seat  for  two  people,  but  it 
is  obvious  from  the  dimensions  of  those  which 


THE  STREET  OF  THE  TOMBS 


215 


V 


(♦ 


are  extant,  that  no  two  ordinary  persons  could 
occupy  so  small  a  seat  at  one  time  with  anything 
approaching  to   dignity. 

The  tomb  which  to-day  will  naturally  claim 
most  attention  as  being  in  the  best  preservation 
is  that  numbered  22,  which  is  the  tomb  of 
Naevoleia  Tyche  and  the  Munatii.  On  the  south- 
ern side  is  the  bisellium  we  have  mentioned, 
and  on  the  front  the  portrait  of  Naevoleia  and 
a  funeral  procession  of  public  functionaries  and 
other  men  and  women  with  offerings,  executed 
jn  bas-relief  upon  a  marble  slab.  The  inscription 
beneath  states  that  Naevoleia  Tyche  while  she 
was  alive  erected  this  monument  for  herself  and 
for  Munatius  Faustus,  who  was  an  Augustal  and 
a  resident  in  the  suburb.  The  inscription  further 
says  that  the  Decurions  with  the  consent  of  the 
people  decreed  him  the  bisellium  on  account  of 
his  merits.  The  northern  end  of  the  tomb  dis- 
plays a  vessel  entering  port  with  the  sailors  on 
her  yard  brailing  up  her  sail.  This  is  spoken 
of  by  many  writers  as  an  allusion  to  the  com- 
mercial pursuits  of  Munatius,  but  it  appears  to 
us  far  more  likely  to  be  a  touching  symbol  of 
he  close  of  life,  typically  expressing  the  entry 
of  the  soul  into  rest. 

Adjoining  this  tomb  is  a  court  containing  an 
open  air  triclinium  of  the   usual    character,  oc- 


216 


POMPEII 


THE  STREET  OF  THE  TOMBS 


217 


cupying  a  space  about  equivalent  to  that  taken 
up  by  one  of  the  tombs.  The  inscription  found 
over  the  door  states  that  the    Freedman  Calli- 
stus  dedicated    it  to  Saturninus.   It  seems  most 
probable  that  it  was  used  for  funeral  feasts,  and 
that  the  effigy  of  the  deceased  was  placed  upon 
the   brick    pillar    in    the    centre.    Funeral    feasts 
were  certainly  held  by  the  Romans,  and  a  por- 
tion was  put  on  one  side  for  the  deceased  and 
left  on   his  tomb  for  him.   This    portion  ,    when 
the  relatives  were  out    of  sight  ,  frequently  fell 
to  the  share  of  some  vagrant,   who,  to  say  the 
least  of  it,   wanted  it  more  than  the  dead  man 
did.   There  was    however   in    Roman    times  no 
epithet    more  opprobrious  than  bustiarius  a  term 
applied  to  those  who  obtained  surreptitious  nour- 
ishment from  this  source,  and  were  free  enough 
from  superstition  to  enjoy  the  meal. 

An  emblem  we  frequently  notice  on  Roman 
tombs  is  the  Serta  or  garlands  (the  word  being 
always  used  in  the  plural).  These  appear  to 
have  been  very  beautiful  ,  and  the  making  of 
them  was  a  regular  trade  in  ancient  times.  They 
took  the  form  either  of  crowns  or  of  festoons, 
and  were  used  for  festive  decorations  as  well 
as  for  sepulchral  adornment.  We  can  trace  the 
leaves,  flowers  and  fruits  of  which  they  were 
made  by  examining  their  marble  representation, 


I 


'■=>• 


% 


and  we  can  have  no  doubt  that  they  were  woven 
by  skiful  hands. 

The  Romans  used  mourning-  much  as  we  do, 
except  that  the  men  wore  it  only  for  a  few 
days,  during  which  time  they  did  not  shave  nor 
did  they  have  their  hair  cut.  The  women  wore 
white  and  left  off  their  ornaments  ,  and  in  the 
case  of  a  husband  or  a  parent  they  continued 
to  wear  mourning  for  twelve  months. 

Apart  from  this  ,  the  Romans  seem  to  have 
succeeded  in  banishin^r  the  horrible    from  their 

o 

reverence  for  the  dead.  It  appears  by  a  strange 
irony  to  have  been  reserved  to  our  later  Chri- 
stianity to  introduce  the  ghastly  element  into 
our  cemeteries.  In  the  Roman  time  we  find  neither 
skulls  nor  cross-bones  upon  the  tombs.  Mazois 
gives  a  picture  of  a  stucco  relief  from  Pompeii 
representing  a  woman  standing  over  the  skele- 
ton of  a  child;  but  it  is  we  believe  the  only 
instance  on  record  and  may  very  likely  represent 
a  particular  incident,  as  the  child  is  lying  on  a 
heap  of  stones.  The  early  Christian  tombs  show 
the  palm  of  victory,  the  ship  in  full  sail,  or  the 
seven-branch  candlestick  ,  pointing  beyond  the 
grave  to  the  future  life,  but  they  never  display 
the   emblems  of  mortality. 

We  think  that  we  have  now  given  sufficient 
general  details  to  enable  our  readers  to  master 


218 


POMPEII 


THE  HOUSi:  OF  DIOMEDE 


219 


the  remaining  tombs  on  the  western  side  of  the 
street  at  their  leisure  and  to  understand  all  that 
they  will  see  in  them.  We  shall  therefore  pro- 
ceed at  once  to  notice  the  interesting  villa  at 
the  end  of  the  street. 

The  House  of  Diomede  (1771-74)  is  the  last  an- 
cient house  in  the  Street  of  the  Tombs.*  Whether 
the  house  actually  belonged  to  Marcus  Arrius 
Diomede  or  not ,  we  cannot  pretend  to  say. 
Certain  it  is  that  his  family  were  buried  in  front 
of  it,  and  certain  also  that  a  man  of  his  name 
was  one  of  the  important  people  belonging  to 
the  Pagus  Augustus  Felix,  the  suburb  founded 
in  7  B.  c,  outside  Gate  of  Herculaneum.  The 
house  was  a  sumptuous  one.  On  the  upper  of 
the  two  remaininor  floors  was  an  atrium  with 
fourteen  pillars  opening  on  a  fine  terrace.  Here 
were  two  well-tops  which  led  into  the  large 
cisterns  below.  Here  was  the  shrine  of  his  house- 
hold gods  among  which  Minerva  reigned  para- 
mount; and  next  to  the  atrium  a  miniature  bath- 
ing establishment  containing  all  the  departments 
of  the  public  baths  neatly  arranged  on  a  small 
scale.  Abundant  water  was  laid  on  to  the  plunge 

*  We  have  slated  above  that  no  ceilings  are  standing 
at  Pompeii.  This  is  mistake.  Two  interesting  ceilings  will 
be  found  in  this  house. 


%^%'X 


^A^^ii 


"."s.\^[;^' 


,^N 


; 


Kf 


4 


bath,  and  excellent  arrangements  were  made  for 
heating  the  hot  chamber.  There  was  even  a 
small  kitchen  range  to  cook  the  warm  drinks 
with  which  the  Romans  stimulated  perspiration. 
All  the  fittings  spoke  of  ease,  wealth,  and  lux- 
ury. The  principal  bedroom  had  an  alcove  for 
the  bed  which  was  shut  off  by  a  curtain  if  we 
are  to  believe  the  silent  testimony  of  numerous 
curtain  rings  found  at  the  entrance  of  it.  Here 
too  the  cosmetic  and  ointment  pots  of  his  wife 
were  found  still  standing  on  the  table  where  the 
hapless  woman  put  them  down  when  she  last 
used  them.  The  upper  rooms  were  the  winter 
quarters  of  the  family;  in  summer-time  they  lived 
in  the  cool  arched  rooms  below  ,  looking  out 
through  the  vine-clad  cloister  upon  the  beautiful 
garden.  Here  was  a  large  fish-pond  and  a  shady 
bower  supported  on  lofty  pillars ,  and  covered 
no  doubt  with  climbing  plants.  Round  the  gar- 
den was  a  cloister,  cool  in  summer;  and  protected 
from  the  w^eather  in  winter.  It  must  have  been 
a  charming  house  ,  with  its  picturesque  views 
over  sea  and  land,  its  large  garden  and  foun- 
tains, its  spacious  terraces,  its  delightful  aspect. 
And  it  was  close  to  the  town  too,  for  five  min- 
utes' walk  led  one  to  the  Forum,  and  the  front 
door  opened  upon  the  promenade  which  w^as 
frequented  in    the  cool    of  the    day  by    all  the 


L. .  ■  »^...».  ^■■^^j.^iBaahjya-^-*.-:^  «.^J  ^<.^.  -.  ■■..  w-^^^j  •■■,«. ..  ^^^.-.i: ■-»  .^  ji..:— .■■■  .Mj».jj^A>| 


220 


POMPEII 


THE  HOUSE  OF  DiOxMEDE 


221 


citizens  who  desired  a  breath  of  fresh  air. 
The  family  were  all  at  home  on  the  afternoon 
of  the  23rd  of  November  a.  d.  79;  the  days  were 
short  and  it  would  soon  be  dark  and  cheerless 
out  of  doors. 

Ye  gods!  hark  to  that  sound  as  of  rolling 
thunder!  Behold  the  darkness  gather  in  the  sky 
as  the  rain  of  ashes  falls  thick  and  fast  around ! 
See  how  the  house  reels  as  shock  after  shock  of 
earthquake  assails  it!  Mark  how  the  beams  play 
in  their  sockets  and  crush  out  the  walls  of  the 
upper  story  as  the  building  seems  to  right  itself 
again ! 

But  Diomede  maintains  his  presence  of  mind 
for  he  well  remembers  the  great  earthquake  of 
sixteen  years  ago,  and  his  wife  with  her  wo- 
man' s  wit  calls  her  children  together  ,  for  did 
not  their  cellar  remain  safe  and  intact  then,  and 
will  it  not  shelter  them  now?  Yes  indeed;  the 
house  may  fall  ,  but  that  vaulted  cellar  which 
runs  quite  round  beneath  the  cloister  of  the 
garden  is  as  safe  as  the  everlasting  hills!  She 
is  up  on  the  terrace  as  she  speaks  ,  for  it  is 
winter,  and  the  vaulted  rooms  below  are  cold 
and  damp,  so  she  sends  the  children  down  to 
the  cellar,  and  pauses  a  moment  herself  to  re- 
scue her  jewel  case,  while  Diomede  ,  followed 
by  his  freedman  Felix,  runs  off  to    his  strong- 


ij 


\ 


k 


< 


V! 


room  to  secure  such  articles  of  value  as  he  can 
carry  away.  His  wife  has  reached  the  cellar. 
She  is  safe!  Her  voice  sounds  shrill  as  she  in- 
quires if  all  her  children  are  present  and  the 
faces  around  her  are  ashy  pale  in  the  light  of 
the  one  lantern  which  the  thoughtful  porter  has 
brought  with  him. 

<  You  did  well,  Janitor,  to  bring  that  light, > 
she  says,  «  is  it  freshly  trimmed  ?  >.  <  Aye  Ma- 
dam y>,  he  replies,  for  this  is  our  Master's  lan- 
tern which  the  freedman  Januarius  carried  before 
him  for  so  many  years,  and  it  is  always  kept 
ready  in  case  he  should  want  to  go  into  town 
at  night.  Januarius  was  a  slave  then,  and  held 
my  office  of  Janitor.  He  is  a  freedman  now,  and 
rich.  Did  he  not  make  a  large  fortune  by  ma- 
naging the  baths  of  Frugi  ?  ».  €  Thou  too  shalt 
be  a  freedman  for  this  thy  service,  but  go  seek 
thy  master;  he  only  is  missing.  We  are  eighteen 
here:  all  the  household  but  thy  master  and 
Felix.  He  did  but  go  to  fetch  some  valuables 
from  his  strong-room,  some  gold  from  his  area, 
where  is  he  ?  »  «  Felix  was  with  him  >  replied 
the  Janitor  ,  reluctantly  approaching  the  cellar 
door.  <(  Stay  I  hear  my  master  call!  he  falls, 
he  struggles!  >.  <  Open  the  door  to  him!  >, 
shrieks  his  mistress,  and  Janitor  obeys  her  com- 
mand in  time  to  see  his  master  and  Felix  writh- 


090 


POMPEII 


ing  on  the  ground;  unable  to  speak,  their  hands 
laden  with  money-bags  and  treasure,  their  lamp 
still   flickering  in  the  dust. 

A  sensation  of  giddiness  seizes  him.  He  turns 
in  time  to  see  his  mistress  and  all  the  family 
crouching  against  the  wall  gasping  for  breath. 
Can  he  close  the  door  ?  No  !  the  falling  ash  has 
choked  hinge  and  bolt.  He  falls  backwards,  and 
the  last  earthly  sound  which  reaches  the  ears 
of  his  Master's  family  is  the  dull  thud  of  his 
body  as  he  falls  backwards  down  the  cellar 
stairs,  a  corpse  ! 

And  there  they  lay  for  eighteen-hundred  years; 
father  and  slave  without;  mother  and  children 
within  ;  money  and  jewels ,  lantern  and  keys 
alone  remaining  to  tell  their  mute  tale  of  tragic 
suffering  and  untimely  death.  The  place  where 
this  hapless  family  cowered  against  the  cellar 
wall  may  yet  be  seen;  had  the  plaster  process 
been  known  when  this  house  was  discovered  we 
should  have  had  casts  of  their  bodies,  and  have 
been  almost  able  to  say  that  we  knew  them  by 
sight.  They  died  clinging  to  one  another;  the 
imprint  of  their  clothes  was  clearly  visible,  and 
it  is  recorded  that  they  had  covered  their  faces 
as  a  last  hope  of  keeping  away  the  stifling 
ashes,  and  the  mephitic  exhalations  of  that  ter- 
rible eruption.   But  nothing  remained    of  them  ; 


THE  HOUSE  OF  DIOMEDE 


223 


dust  went  to  dust ;  ashes  to  ashes;  their  jewelry 
was  found,  and  a  large  silvered  key  now  in  the 
Museum,  was  clenched  in  their  father's  right 
hand,  while  round  him  lay  the  money  in  gold 
and  silver  rescued  from  that  strong  box,  which 
was  fated  never  to  be  opened  again. 

The  visitor  should  not  fail  to  Pfo  down  into 
this  cellar  and  it  is  better  to  enter  it  by  the 
southern  door,  (that  is  the  one  nearest  to  the 
town)  taking  care  to  stoop  in  passing  the  lintel 
which  is  very  low  on  this  side;  he  will  then 
walk  completely  round  and  his  eyes  will  become 
accustomed  to  the  darkness,  so  that  he  will  see 
without  difficulty  the  amphorae  against  the  wes- 
tern wall ,  and  the  marks  made  by  the  bodies 
close  to  the  door  at  the  south-eastern  end  of  the 
rectangle. 

Immediately  below  the  House  of  Diomede  is 
the  turn-stile,  which  used  to  be  the  entrance  to 
the  excavations  before  the  railway  was  made, 
and  beyond  it,  in  a  modern  building,  is  a  col- 
lection of  the  human  bones  found  in  the  city. 
These  are  neatly  arranged,  and  anyone  desiring 
to  behold  a  gruesome  spectacle  can  see  them 
through  the  bars  of  the  door. 

As  we  return  towards  the  city  we  may  notice 
on  our  left  Nos.   30  to  32,  where  the  road  be- 


224 


POMPEII 


comes  suddenly  wider.  We  should  conjecture 
that  the  smaller  road  which  branches  off  to  the 
right  at  this  point,  was  the  original  way  to  the 
town  before  the  wider  street  was  laid  down. 

It  is  here  that  the  Samnite  tombs  were  found. 
These  were  identified  by  thestyle  of  vases  con- 
tained in  them,  some  of  w^hich  were  of  Nolan 
ware,  others  of  coarser  material.  Two  bronze 
coins  were  also  found,  having  the  head  of  Apollo 
on  one  side ,  and  a  humanfaced  bull  on  the 
other.  These  Samnitic  sepulchres  would  probably 
date  back  to  2  5o  b.  c.  Near  them  were  some 
tombs  made  of  tiles,  belonging  to  a  burial  pe- 
riod ,  and  many  cinerary  urns.  It  is  here  no 
doubt  that  the  more  ancient  cemetery  existed, 
and  we  think  it  most  likely  that  further  exca- 
vation w^ould  discover  the  ustrititnn  or  burning 
place,  as  in  all  probability  traditional  custom 
caused  the  Romans  to  use  the  same  spot  as 
their  predeccessors  had  adopted  for  a  similar 
purpose. 

The  long  row  of  arcades  on  the  left  is  thought 
to  have  been  the  front  of  a  large  inn,  situated 
outside  the  Gate  so  that  the  market  people  might 
get  ready  to  enter  the  city  by  the  time  the 
gate  w^as  open.  There  is  nothing  of  interest  in 
the  building,   which  is  not  completely  excavated. 

A  handsome  public  seat  covered  with  an  apse 


THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  MOSAIC  COLUMNS  225 


<> 


and  originally  profusely  decorated  is  the  next 
object  of  interest.  It  bears  no  inscription,  and 
seems  to  have  been  put  up  only  for  the  accom- 
modation of  the  public.  Next  to  it  is  the  tomb 
No.  8,  which  is  a  very  fine  building  constructed 
of  large  stones,  having  its  entrance  on  the  side 
away  from  the  road.  It  bore  no  inscription,  but 
contained  the  blue  amphora  which  w^e  have  al- 
ready described. 

The  House  of  the  Mosaic  Columns  contains  a  very 
large  mosaic  fountain  and  the  remains  of  a  few 
columns;  the  four  perfect  columns  taken  from 
it  are  in  the  Naples  Museum.  Their  construction 
is  very  much  admired  for  the  technical  skill  by 
which  the  mosaicist  obtained  so  elaborate  a  pat- 
tern on  a  convex  surface. 

The  Tomb  of  Terentius  will  strike  our  eye  as  we 
approach  the  Gate.  The  site  and  two  thousand 
sesterces  were  granted  him  by  the  town  ,  and 
the  tomb  was  erected  by  his  wife  Fabia  ,  who 
placed  his  ashes  in  a  triple  urn,  the  inner  one 
being  of  glass,  the  middle  one  of  clay,  and  the 
outer  one  of  lead. 

Experimental  excavations  made  outside  the 
other  gates  prove  that  cemeteries  exist  on  the 
roads  leading  to  the  town,  notably  on  the  road 


i^t< 


226 


POMPEII 


THE  TOMB  OF  TERENTIUS 


227 


outside  the  gate  of  Stabiae.  These  were  proba- 
bly all  the  tombs  of  private  persons.  Mommsen 
has  published  several  of  the  inscriptions  belong- 
ing to  them  ,  and  they  are  in  some  instances 
especially  interesting,  one  of  them  having  borne 
a  fine  fcasrelief  of  a  venatio  and  ^gladiatorial 
contest,  given  no  doubt  in  honour  of  the  deceased, 
which  wiDuld  show  that  he  was  a  wealthy  person. 
He  seems  to  have  been  interred  in  the  reign  of 
Tiberius.  Another  private  inscription,  now  in  the 
Naples  Museum  (No.  4680)  came  from  a  Pom- 
peian  sepulchre,  and  is  an  interesting  record  of 
a  freedman  who  was  probably  an  important  man 
in  his  way. 

The  inscription  runs  thus: 

.  CN  .  pompeIvs,  .  pompeIae  .  CN  . 

MAGNI  .  F  .  lIb  .  ISOCHRYSVS  .  SIBI  .  ET 

POMPeIaE  .   MAXIMAE  .   CONLIBERTAE 

SVAE  .  FEMINAE  .   IVCVNDISSIMAE  .   EX   .   QUA 

NIHIL  .  VMQVAM  .   DOLvI   .  NISI  .  CVM   .   DECESSIT 

ET  .  LIBERTIS  .  LIBERT ABVSQVE  .  SVIS 

H  .   M  .  H  .  N  .   S 

«  Cneius  Pompeius  Isochrysus  the  freedman  of  Pcmpeia 
daughter  of  Cneius  Magnus,  for  himself  and  his  fellow 
freed-woman  and  most  delightful  mate  Pompeia  Maxima 
(she  never  at  any  time  brought  grief  upon  me  save 
when  she  (died)  and  his  freedmen  and  women.  This  se- 
pulchre ^oes  not  go  to  my  heirs.  » 


I 


1 


i. 


I 

1 


|7 


Ji> 


^ 


4 


It  will  be  observed  that  he  speaks  of  Pompeia 
as  €  femiiia  »  and  not  as  <  tixor  >  showing  that 
he  had  not  contracted  a  recognised  marriage 
with  her.  The  letters  h.  m.  h.  n.  s.  at  the  end 
of  the  inscription  stand  for  the  words  Hoc  mo- 
numeftttim  heredes  non  sequitiir,  <  This  sepulchre 
does  not  go  to  my  heirs  >.  The  old  freedman 
did  not  wish  to  be  intruded  upon  after  his  death, 
and  accordingly  specified  exactly  for  whose  be- 
nefit he  had  built  his  vault. 

An  exhaustive  work  on  the  tombs  of  antiquity 
would  be  a  great  boon  to  archaeology,  and  we 
commend  the  subject  to  the  consideration  of 
such  British  antiquaries  as  are  competent  to 
compile  such  a  book.  It  may  be  taken  for  cer- 
tain that  the  ancient  sepulchres  hitherto  discovered, 
numerous  as  they  are  ,  and  extending  as  they 
do  over  many  centuries,  are  as  nothing  to  those 
which  are  still  to  be  found,  and  if  our  present 
knowledge  were  redeemed  from  its  chaotic  con- 
dition great  assistance  would  be  given  to  future 
research. 


CHAPTER  X 

LITERATURE    AND  INDUSTRIES 

Nature  of  Pompeian  Literature — Roman  System  of  Chro- 
nology— Dated  Inscriptions — Soldiers*  Discharge— ^Tes- 
sera of  Purpilin — Dated    Wiyie-jars. 

Literary    Cur iosities^^ Amatory    Elegiac— The    Lady    of 
Puteoli  —  Sneezing   Salutation —  To  a    Pretty    Girl — A 
Warning  tj  Idlers — A  Spiteful  Gladiator^' Felix    the 
Bearbaiter —  Campanians  and  Nucerines—^  Three  Clowns. 

Election  Placards  by    Trade  Gtcilds. 

Material  Trac:s  of  Jewellers — Carpenters — Fishermen — 
Barbers —  Tailors  — Hatters — A ncieji t  Music — Dyers — 
Fullers. 

Ancient  remains  of  modern  industries — Surgery — Writ- 
ing Materials — Books — Wax  Tablets — Usury — Metal 
Pens — Coachmen  and  Carters — Bakers — Corii  Mills ^^ 
Ovens — Loaves —The  House  of  the  Taujicrs — Allego- 
rical Mosaic  —Shops  named  by  cojijecture — Shops  not 
yet  found  —  Coopers — Blacksmiths — Bootmakers— Sundry 
Dealers — Fruiterers — Natural  History —  Glass-blowing. 

Although  no  books  have  been  found  at  Pom- 
peii, the  city  contains  an  abundant  and  interesting 


/ 


7 


I 


•■( 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


229 


;> 


^    '^m  ^ 

i^^ 


* —  > 


\] 


'm^ 


literature  of  its  own.  No  one  can  possibly  contend 
that  a  city  of  this  size  with  its  lawyers  and 
doctors,  its  merchants  and  its  temi:les  had  no 
books  in  it,  and  we  are  driven  to  the  conclusion 
that  the  ash  which  enveloped  Pompeii  destroyed 
the  scrolls  of  papyrus,  while  the  mud  lava  which 
rolled  into  Herculaneum  preserved  them.  At  the 
same  time  we  must  admit  that  nothing  analo- 
gous to  the  fine  library  of  Calpurnius  Piso,  the 
great  liller  teur  of  Herculaneum  has  been  dis- 
covered in  the  sister  city  ,  nor  has  any  room 
been  found  there  which  seems  to  have  been 
arranged  for  the  purpose  of  study. 

The  literature  of  Pompeii  properly  so  called 
consists  of  one  scrap  of  papyrus  the  characters 
of  which  are  not  susceptible  of  coherent  inter- 
pretation. Besides  this  there  are  the  wax  tablets 
found  in  the  house  of  Jucundus;  and  last,  but 
not  least,  the  innumerable  inscriptions  scattered 
far  and  wide  upon  the  walls ^and  engraved  upon 
the  various  objects  found  in  the  excavations. 
We  have  already  dealt  with  a  great  number  of 
these ;  but  there  are  several  others  w^hich  were 
discovered  in  localities  w^hose  small  importance 
does  not  entitle  them  to  a  place  in  this  work, 
and  with  some  of  these  we  now  purpose  to  deal, 
by  treating  of  them  as  detached  literary  curio- 
sities. Many  verses  from  the    ^Eneid  of   Virgil 


•230 


POMPEII 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


231 


and  the  works  of  Ovid  have  been  found  upon 
the  walls  of  the  town.  We  do  not  think  it  ne- 
cessary to  reproduce  these,  as  the  chief  interest 
they  have  is  the  proof  they  afford  that  the  Roman 
poets  were  extensively  read  by  the  Pompeians, 
and  the  particular  lines  quoted  are  of  no  material 
consequence.  We  believe  w^e  are  correct  in  stat- 
ing that  no  quotations  occur  from  the  Greek 
poets,  and  the  Greek  inscriptions  are  not  very 
numerous.  The  most  important  of  them  was  an 
original  epigram  written  beneath  the  picture  of 
the  fight  of  Pan  and  Eros,  of  which  we  published 
a  metrical  translation  in  Mr.  Monaco's  handbook 
to  the  Museum,  but  we  think  we  may  in  our 
present  work  be  content  to  pass  over  the  Greek 
inscriptions  altogether  and  confine  ourselves  to 
those  which  are  written  in  Oscan  or  in  Latin. 
We  shall  not  attempt  to  reproduce  the  Oscan 
character  because  none  but  students  can  read 
it,  but  we  insert  the  original  Latin  of  the  shorter 
inscriptions  together  with  a  translation  giving 
what  we  believe  to  be  a  correct  rendering  of 
them.  These  translations  have  all  been  made 
expressly  for  this  work,  but  we  are  w^ell  aware 
that  they  are  not  always  the  only  meaning  that 
can  be  attached  to  the  words,  but  only  such  a 
meaning  as  in  our  opinion  seems  most  natural 
and  probable. 


1 


iltoaffiiSar 


<J>\ 


V 


Vi 


It  will  be  noticed  that  the  absence  of  a  defi- 
nite system  of  dates  causes  a  great  deal  of 
trouble  in  our  work  at  Pompeii,  and  gives  rise 
to  conjecture  where  in  other  circumstances  we 
should  have  certainty.  If  w^e  could  know ,  for 
example,  when  Pansa  was  ^^Zdile,  or  Holconius 
Duumvir,  much  w^ould  be  simplified  which  is 
now  mysterious,  much  would  be  straightforward 
which  is  now  ambiguous;  for  the  dates  of  the 
various  Duumvirates  would  give  us  the  epoch 
of  nearly  every  important  building  in  the  city, 
as  the  names  of  the  Duumvirs  are  found  upon 
almost  all  of  them.  We  have  seen  that  even  the 
tombs  are  undated,  though  the  age  of  the  oc- 
cupants is  not  unfrequently  mentioned  in  the 
inscriptions. 

If  we  seek  a  reason  for  this,  we  shall  find  it 
in  the  cumbrous  system  by  which  the  Romans 
reckoned  their  chronology.  The  usual  w'ay  by 
w^hich  we  ascertain  a  Roman  date  is  by  the 
names  of  the  Consuls  for  the  year,  just  as  we 
distinguish  the  dates  on  some  of  the  Greek  vases 
by  the  names  of  the  Archons.  Now  it  is  not 
impossible  that  in  a  town  so  distant  from  the 
metropolis  the  names  of  the  Consuls  might 
sometimes  be  uncertain ,  especially  as  now  and 
then  a  Consul  held  office  only  for  part  of  a  year, 
a   Consul  suffectus  being  appointed  in  his  place. 


232 


POMPEII 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


233 


Thus  though  Tacitus  says  that  «  in  the  second 
Consulship  of  Nero  and  L.  Calpurnius  Piso  few 
things  of  importance  occurred,  thus  treating  them 
as  having  been  Consuls  for  the  whole  year  57 
A.  D.;  we  find  on  reference  to  the  Pompeian 
tablets  that  Nero  and  Csesius  Martialis  are  spo- 
ken of  as  being  Consuls  for  the  latter  half  of 
that  year,  a  statement  on  the  part  of  the  Pom- 
peian writer  which  is  contested  by  many  good 
classical  scholars,  although  the  manuscript  leaves 
no  room  for  doubt  that  the  name  of  Martialis 
was  written  advisedly.  No  doubt  however  ,  the 
leading  political  people  of  the  city  must  have 
known  who  the  Consuls  were,  just  as  the  lead- 
ing men  of  our  country  towns  know  who  holds 
the  office  of  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  although 
that  also  is  an  annual  office  and  the  name  of 
the  occupant  of  it  is  probably  not  generally 
known  by  the  middle  classes  of  our  Provincial 
towns.  Hence  although  we  are  not  surprised  that 
the  names  of  the  Consuls  do  not  appear  in  or- 
dinary inscriptions,  it  seems  strange  that  they 
should  not  be  read  on  the  tombs  of  official 
personages,  unless  it  is  accounted  for  by  the  fact 
that  the  ground  was  given  by  the  town  and  the 
tomb  erected  by  the  family.  Even  granting  this, 
one  would  have  expected  the  names  of  the  Consuls 
to  appear  upon  the  statues  erected  in  the  Forum. 


il 


f 

4f 


r 

li 


H  y\ 


\ 


hi 


! 


The  fact  however  remains  that  of  the  few 
dated  inscriptions  discovered  in  Pompeii  some 
were  certainly  not  written  there,  but  were  en- 
graved upon  objects  m.ade  probably  in  Rome. 
Thus  we  have  a  steelyard  in  the  Museum,  No. 
7405 6,  gauged  in  the  Capitol  at  Rome  in  the 
eighth  Consulate  of  Vespasian  and  the  sixth  of 
Titus,  which  corresponds  to  a.  d.  77,  or  two 
years  before  the  destruction  of  Pompeii;  there 
is  also  a  scale  of  the  reign  of  Claudius,  and  an 
important  liquid  measure  of  ten  pounds ,  the 
Congiiis  of  Vespasian  spoken  of  by  Pliny.  This 
was  dated  in  the  sixth  Consulate  of  Vespasian 
and  the  fourth  of  Titus,  that  is  to  say  in  a.  d.  75. 
But  the  most  interesting  inscription  of  this  kind  is 
in  a  table-case  in  the  Hall  of  the  Farnese  Bull, 
No.  3706,  and  is  an  example  of  an  honourable 
discharge  granted  to  all  the  veterans  who  had 
fought  in  the  Misenian  fleet  under  SextusLucilius. 
The  document  gave  to  them,  their  children  and 
their  heirs,  the  privileges  of  citizenship,  and  the 
rights  of  comiiibiiiniy  that  is  to  say  of  recognised 
marriage  if  they  had  wives,  and  of  contracting 
recognised  marriages  if  they  had  not;  the  condition 
apparently  being  that  they  must  have  been  entitled 
to  twenty-six  or  more  instalments  of  pay,  and 
must  have  been  among  those  who  served  at 
Paestum  whose  names  were  written  below.  Do- 


2.-^ 


POMPEII 


mitian  and  Podius  Cascus  are  stated  to  have 
been  the  Consuls,  which  gives  us  the  date  of 
the  discharge  as  71  a.  d.  and  the  name  of  the 
recipient  of  the  tablet  was  Garasenus.  It  is  fur- 
ther stated  in  the  document  that  the  bearer  had 
been  described  and  recognised  ,  and  that  his 
name  would  be  found  on  a  bronze  inscription 
fixed  on  the  outer  side  of  the  altar  of  the  Julia 
Gens  in  the  Capitol.  This  interesting  discharge 
was  discovered  in  a  wine-shop  near  the  gate 
of  Stabia  in  1874,  and  the  locality  in  w^hich  it 
w^as  found  shows  perhaps  that  pensioners  in 
Roman  times  did  not  differ  materially  in  their 
habits  from  the  «.  old  soldier  »  of  to-day.  It  is 
obvious  that  all  three  of  the  above  inscriptions 
were  written  at  Rome,  and  found  their  way  to 
Pompeii  by  accident. 

A  dated  inscription  of  importance  may  be 
seen  upon  a  small  bone  instrument  exhibited  in 
the  Naples  Museum  among  the  checks  for  thea- 
tres. Fiorelli  thinks  it  was  a  tongue -scraper,  and 
states  that  it  was  found  in  1878.  The  original 
inscription  runs  thus: 

HILARVS     .    TURPILIN    .     SP    .    ID    .    QVI 
C    .    lUL    .    P    .    SER 

«  Hilarus  Turpilin,  the  seventh  day  before  the  ides  of 


m 

■1* 

I 

i  ■ 

4 

^  l^H 

'A> 

''M 

.,m 

■¥ 

-1 

w 

m 

< 

41 


9> 


! 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


235 


Quintilis  (i.    e.  the    ninth  of  July)  in  the  Consulate  of 
Julius  Caesar  and  Publius  Servilius  (i.  e.  B.  c.  48).  » 

There  is  no  internal  evidence  to  show  where 
this  inscription  was  written,  but  Hilarus  Turpilin 
must  have  been  dead  many  years  before  the 
destruction  of  Pompeii,  since  it  was  dated  in  that 
Consulate  of  Julius  Caesar  which  corresponds 
to  B.  c.  48. 

We  know  from  Horace  that  it  was  the  habit 
of  the  Romans  to  put  the  name  of  the  Consuls 
upon  the  wine-jars,  for  he  speaks  of  the  wine 
laid  down  when  <  Plancus  was  Consul  >  and  we 
search  the  amphorae  of  Pompeii  accordingly  for 
dated  inscriptions.  Six  in  all  have  been  found, 
all  dating  from  the  various  consulships  of 
Vespasian,  of  which  the  following  is  the  most 
interesting  : 

IMP    .    VESPASIANO    .    VII    .    COS    . 

nil.    IDUS.    NOVEMBR 

EX    .    F    .    SITTIANO    .    IMO    .    QVEM    .    COLVIT    . 

ANTONIVS    .    MARTIALIS    .    EX    .    DOTEI.  ... 

«  In  the  seventh  consulship  of  Vespasian  (a.  d.  76) 
on  the  tenth  of  November,  from  the  lowest  part  of  the 
Sittian  farm  which  Antonius  Martialis  cultivated  as  (pari 
of  his  wife's)  dowry  ».  The  expression  ^;ir  dote  is  a  very 
unusual  one,  and  the  above  interpretation  is  suggested 
by  Signor  Viola. 


Mlh.VMhiiC.Ma';»jLiK>j.Jlia«.'-i':./a.iato^aMia?jgWiMiiiWI»iift'»!^^  i  ...wiitfj.tat^  |J-J■■^^«J1J. 


236 


POMPEII 


So  much  for  the  dated  inscriptions.  We  will 
now  turn  our  attention  to  some  of  the  literary 
curiosities  furnished  by  the  walls  of  Pompeii. 
The  following  pretty  elegiac  is  from  the  house 
of  Jucundus,  and  is  one  of  many  original  ama- 
tory couplets  found   in  the  city: 

Quis   {quis)  amat  valeat,  pereat  qui  nescit  amare  ; 
Bis  tanto  pereat  quisquis  amare  vetat. 

«  May  he  who  loves  have  good  luck,  may  he  who 
knows  not  how  to  love  perish  ;  but  may  he  doubly  perish 
who  forbids  love  ». 

The  following  may  confidently  be  inserted 
among  the  literary  curiosities  of  the  city  : 

XV.   K.  NOV.  PVTEOLANA  PEPERIT  MASCUL.  Ill  FEMEL  I 

«  On  the  15th  day  before  the  kalends  of  November, 
a  woman  of  Puteoli  had  three  boys  and  one  girl  at  a 
birth  » 

This  date  corresponds  to  the  i8.th  of  October. 

Another  curious  inscription  was  found  on  one 
of  the  columns  of  the  garden  of  the  House  of 
the  Faun  : 

VICTORIA.    VA.    IIT.    VBQVII    VIS 
SUAVITER.    STIIRNU 

Victoria  Valeas  et  ubique  vis  Suaviter  sternuas. 


I 


4> 


> 


^1 

■  ' 

^'\ 

ml> 

M 

Wr 

'■f 

W 

^' 

m  * 

r  ^ 

B.  V 

LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


237 


«  Victoria,  good  luck  to  you,  and  wherever  you  please 
may  you  sneeze  pleasantly.* 

Another  salutation  to  a  young  lady  is  worthy 
of  record,  but  to  make  it  intelligible  we  must 
give  a  Latin  version  of  it  as  well  as  the  origi- 
nal inscription: 

PVPA    .     QVII    .     BIILLAIISTIBI 
MIIMISIT    .    QVITVVS    .    IIS    .    VAL 

Pupa  quae  bella  es,  tibi  me  misit  qui  tuus   est.  Vale. 

«  Oh  maiden  who  art  pretty,  he  who  is  thine  sent  me 
to  thee.  Farewell.  » 

At  a  street-corner  opposite  to  the  back  door 
of  the  House  of  Siricus  the  following  hexameter 
is  written  up    above  a    fine    picture    of    sacred 

*  The  universality  of  congratulations  in  deprecation 
of  ill  luck  to  those  who  sneeze  points  to  the  great  an- 
tiquity of  the  custom.  Xenophon  and  Homer  both  mention 
it,  and  though  the  habit  of  saying  «  God  bless  you  »  is 
comparatively  rare  in  England,  all  the  other  nations  of 
Europe  continue  to  use  an  appropriate  salutation.  The 
Germans  say  <^  Zur  Gesundheit -»',  the  French,  m,  Dieu 
vous  b^nisse  »;  the  Mahometans,  <k  Allah  be  with  you  » 
and  the  Italians,   «  Felicita  ». 


•238 


POMPEII 


serpents.   It  was  painted  neatly  in  white  letters, 
but   unhappily  it  is  fading  rapidly  : 

Otiosis  locus  hie  non  est,  discede  morator. 
«  This  is  no  place  for  idlers,  move  on,  dawdler  ». 

The  following  is  a  somewhat  bloodthirsty  in- 
scription WTitten  probably  by  a  gladiator: 

PVTIIOLANIS    FIILICITIIR 

OMNIBVS    NVCHERINIS 

FIILICIA    .    ET    .    VNCV    . 

POMPEIANIS    .    PETECVSANIS 

«  Good  luck  to  the  Puteolans  ;  happiness  to  the  Nu- 
cerines,  and  the  hook  to  the  Pompeians  and  the  Ischians  ». 

The  word  «  uncum  »  which  means  «  a  hook  > 
betrays  the  gladiator,  as  the  instrument  alluded 
to  was  that  used  to  draw  the  dead  bodies  out 
of  the  arena  during  the  combats,  and  hence  the 
meaning  of  the  inscription  is  <  death  to  the 
Pompeians  and  Ischians  >. 

Rude  drawings  are  also  found  scratched  on 
the  plaster  in  various  parts  of  the  town,  some 
of  which  are  reproduced  with  illustrations  by 
Dyer.  The  following  will  not  we  think  be  found 
in  his  book.   It  consists  of  a  rough    delineation 


#)) 


<* 
<" 


V, 


4 


•f 


V# 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


239 


f 
f 


of  a  hunting  scene  upon  the  wall  of  a  room 
(Reg.  VIII.  Ins:  in  No.  24)  beneath  which  are 
the  words: 

HEIC   .  VIINATIO  .   PVGNABIT  .   V   .   K  .   SlIPTIIMBRIIS 
IIT  .    FELIX  .   AD   .   VRSOS   .   PVGNABIT 

«  Felix  will  fight  this  venatio  on  the  fifth  day  before 
the  kalends  of  September,  and  he  will  also  fight  against 
bears  ».  * 

This  date  corresponds  to  August  28. 

Another  important  inscription  in  a  house  in 
the  Sixth  Regio,  records  the  fight  in  the  am- 
phitheatre ,  and  probably  also  alludes  to  the 
stopping  of  the  performances  there  by  the  Se- 
nate : 

CAMPANI    .    VICTORIA    .    VNA 
CVM    .    NVCERINIS    .    PERISTIS 

« 

«  Campanians  ye  \were  done  for  in  the  victory  together 
with  the  Nucerines*. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  Pompeians  having 
professional  performers  to  amuse  their  guests  at 

*  It  is  interesting  to  note  that  the  lower  jaw  of  a  large 
Brown  Bear  was  found  at  Pompeii ,  and  is  in  the  Mu- 
seum there. 


240 


POMPEII 


their  banquets.  The   following    inscription  from 
Reg  :  Yiii.   Ins  ;  xii.   No.   34  is  to  the  point : 


C.    COMINIUS    PYRRICHUS 


NOVIVS    PRISCVS    ,    ET 


CAMPIVS 


ET 

•    L 

PRIMIGENIVS    .    FANATICI    TRES 
A    PVLVINAR    SVNETHAEI 
HIC    FVERVNT    CVM    MARTIALE 
SODALE    ACTIANI    ANICETIANI 
SINCERI    SALVIO    SODALI    FELICITER 

«  C.  Cominius  Pyrrichus  and  L.  Novius  Priscus,  and 
L.  Cam  pi  us  Primigenius,  three  clowns  (after  performing 
at)  the  feast  of  Synetheus,  were  here  with  their  chum 
Martial.  True  Actiani  Anicetiani.  Good  Luck  to  chum 
Salvius.  » 

The  above  inscription  was  found  in  a  tavern, 
and  means  that  the  three  travelling:  clowns  named 
in  it,  after  performing  at  the  feast  of  Synetheus 
met  a  fellow-countryman  by  name  Martialis  Sal- 
vius, who  like  themselves,  was  an  native  of  the 
district  of  Actianum  «  of  the  right  sort  >  and 
together  they  enjoyed  a  carouse  out  of  the  money 
earned  by  entertaining  Synetheus  and  his  friends. 
That  they  should  have  been  sober  enough  to 
write  up  the  inscription  is  wonderful ;  that  they 
should  have  left  us  this  interesting  scrap  of  so- 
cial history  is  particularly  gratifying. 


f  1 


s        »  J 


.^A 


1 
1 


'    -A^ 


•/■>i 


LITERATURK  AND  IXDUSTRIKS 


241 


We  have  already  mentioned  some  of  the  elec- 
tion placards  written  up  by  the  trade  of  Pompeii. 
As  these  form  an  interesting"  collection  of  the 
trades  exercised  in  the  town  we  insert  a  list  of 
them  taken  mainly  from  Overbeck'  famous  work. 
They  comprise  Offcc tores  (Dyers)  —  Pistores 
(Bakers)  —  Clibanarii  (Pastry-cooksj  —  Auri- 
ficcs  (Goldsmiths)  —  Pomarii  (Fruiterers)  — 
Z/^;^^zr/V  (Carpenters)  —  Plosirarii  {Cdin^rs)  — 
Saliiiienses  (Saltworkers) — A^y/V^^?// (Fishermen) 
Agricolce  (Peasants)  —  Forenses  (Market  folk) 
—  Mulioiics  (Muleters)  —  Cisarii  (Coachmen)  — 
Saccarii  (Porters)  —  Fulloncs  (Fullers)  —  La- 
iiifricarius  (Wool  washer) — Sugar ii  {T:^^or%^ — 
Caiiponcs  (Innkeepers)  —  Tonsorcs  (Barbers)  — 
Unguciitarii  (Ointment  sellers) — Perfusor  {^qy- 
fumer)  —  Vcstiarius  (Clothier)  —  Fornacator 
(Ovenheater)  —  Librarii  (Booksellers).  Besides 
these  we  have  the  Colleges  of  Isis  and  Venus  which 
probably  include  the  ministers  of  the  temple;  we 
have  also  «  Phoebus  with  his  customers  >;  Valen- 
tinus  with  his  pupils  »;  «  Sema  with  her  children.  > 

Some  of  the  other  inscriptions  which  mention 

Pilicrepi    (Ball-players)  ;     Dormicntcs     iinivcrsi 

(Sleepy    people    of    all    sorts);    Seribibi    (Late 

drinkers)  all  seem  to  have  a  somewhat  jocular 

or  sarcastic    inspiration,    and  would    appear  ,  if 

translated  into  our   modern  idiom^  to  be  rightly 

16 


POMPEII 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


243 


interpreted  by  such  sentences  as  these  <  Cric- 
keters vote  for  A  >,  «  Sleepy-heads  plump  for 
B  >,   «  Tipplers  support  C  >. 

It  is  manifest  that  of  all  the  trades  mentioned 
in  these  inscriptions  we  shall  only  find  material 
traces  of  a  few  ,  and  of  these  in  many  cases, 
we  find  more  often  the  tools  of  their  trade,  than 
the  results  of  their  handicraft. 

Gold  and  silver  ornaments  have  been  found 
all  over  the  town,  and  it  is  supposed,  with 
slender  authority,  that  the  small  shops  discovered 
in  front  of  the  Macellum  in  tlie  Greater  Forum, 
were  jewellers*  establishments. 

Carpenters  and  Fishermen  have  left  us  little 
but  the  tools  of  their  trade.  We  have  drawn 
attention  to  a  wardrobe  and  some  doors  of 
which  there  are  casts  in  the  Pompeii  Museum; 
an  original  wooden  box,  roughly  dovetailed  may 
be  seen  in  the  food  department  of  the  Naples 
Museum,  and  a  very  complete  set  of  carpenters 
tools  are  exhibited  in  the  first  room  of  the  small 
bronzes.  The  Fishermen  have  left  us  their  bronze 
fish-hooks,  an  interesting  drag  for  pulling  up 
night-lines,  and  a  small  iron  boat-anchor;  this 
last,  though  a  unique  specimen  not  being  equal 
in  scierrtific  construction  to  the  admirable  anchor 
which  is  depicted  in  mosaic  on  the  threshold 
of  the  house  at  the  south-eastern  corner  of  the 


Street  of  Mercury.  Floats  for  nets,  and  sundry 
pieces  of  rope  may  be  seen  in  the  food  depart- 
ment, and  occasion  surprise  that  such  a  material 
as  cork  should  survive  ,  when  so  many  things 
apparently  much   more  durable  have  perished. 

Of  the  Tonsores  or  Barbers  we  have  no  trace 
excepting  two  razors  mentioned  in  the  official 
catalogue  of  objects  discovered.  The  Barbers 
were  probably  as  important  in  Rome  as  Figaro  is 
now  in  Italy,  for  a  beard  seems  to  have  been 
seldom  worn  at  this  period  by  the  Romans  if 
we  may  judge  from  the  frescoes  and  the  statues. 
We  believe  we  are  correct  in   stating   that  Ha- 

o 

drian  was  the  earliest  of  the  Emperors  who 
wore  one;  and  no  doubt  the  Imperial  example 
would  count  for  much  in  such  a  matter. 

Of  the  Tailors  of  Pompeii  we  have  naturally 
no  trace,  in  fact  it  is  a  little  surprising  that  we 
should  find  a  distinction  drawn  in  the  inscrip- 
tions between  Sagarii  tailors ,  and  Vestiarii 
who  we  may  conclude  to  have  been  sellers  of 
ready-made  clothes.  The  loose  garments  worn 
by  the  Romans  w^ould  seem  to  have  encouraged 
the  ready-made  as  against  the  bespoken  trade, 
for  excepting  the  under  garment  which  was  a 
sort  of  blouse   and  often  woven,*  the  clothes  of 

*  «  Now  the  coat  was  without  seam,  woven  from  the 
top  throughout  ».  John.  xix.   23. 


244 


POMPEII 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


245 


a  Roman  were  not  fitted  to  his  body.  Neither 
Greeks  nor  Romans  wore  trousers  ,  and  both 
despised  the  nations  who  did  so.  The  statues 
of  men  so  costumed  in  the  Naples  Museum  all 
represent  Dacians,  though  it  is  worthy  of  note 
that  some  of  the  soldiers  on  Trajan's  column  at 
Rome  wear  knee-breeches. 

We  find  no  hatters  among  the  trades  mentio- 
ned, another  proof  that  the  Romans  habitually 
used  no  covering  for  their  heads  ,  though  the 
soldiers  wore  helmets  exclusively  for  military 
reasons ;  and  tw^o  men  are  represented  in  one 
of  the  rcugh  frescoes  in  the  Osteria  deg:i  Sche- 
letri  in  the  Street  of  Mercury  with  what  appear 
to  be  conical  felt  hats  on  their  heads.  Had  hats 
been  in  common  use  we  must  most  certainly 
have  found  them  upon  the  statues  and  in  the 
frescoes.  The  fine  Farnese  statue  of  a  hunter  in 
the  Naples  Museum  is  the  only  Roman  statue 
with  a  hat,  though  examples  both  of  Dacians 
and  Phrygians  with  caps  on  might  be  cited  from 
the  same  collections  ,  and  one  bronze  usually 
known  as  Archytas  is  represented  with  a  turban. 
The  principal  instance  of  a  hat  in  the  frescoes 
is  in  the  picture  of  Ulysses  stealing  the  Palla- 
dium at  Troy,  but  this  represents  a  Greek  of 
the  heroic  age  and  not  a  Roman  of  the  period 
we  are  treating  of.   It  is  often  objected  that  in 


J  4* 


*^  ^fiv.   t» 


this  climate  a  hat  is  a  necessity,  and  it  is  of- 
ten urged,  without  a  show^  of  reason,  that  Italy 
w^as  a  much  hotter  climate  then,  than  it  is  now. 
To  this  we  reply  that  the  Neapolitan  women 
all  go  with  their  heads  completely  uncovered, 
and  that  it  is  only  the  men  who  find  hats  a 
necessity. 

If  the  frescoes  are  to  be  trusted  (as  no  doubt 
they  are)  we  might  easily  arrive  at  the  diffe- 
rent colours  used  by  the  Roman  Dyers.  The 
centre  of  the  trade  in  these  days  was  in  Asia 
Minor,  and  the  Tyrian  purple  was  celebrated. 
In  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  we  read  of  a  «  sel- 
ler of  purple  of  the  city  of  Thyatira  »  ,  and 
though  perhaps  the  finer  dyes  w^ere  imported, 
no  doubt  the  Romans  made  a  good  many  of 
the  more  ordinary  colours  for  themselves. 

There  seems  to  have  been  no  Musical  Guild 
in  the  city.  We  should  have  expected  to  have 
found  the  Tibicines  or  «.  flageolet  players  »  in  a 
corporate  capacity,  for  the  tibia  was  the  favou- 
rite instrument  of  Roman  times.  Ovid  has  left 
us  an  interesting  couplet  on  the  universal  use 
of  this  instrument  : 

«  Cantabat  fanis,  cantabat  tibia  ludis  ». 
«  Cantabat  moestis  tibia  funeribus». 

«  The  tibia  used  to  sound  in  the  temples,  at  the  sports, 
and  in  the  sad  funeral  processions  ». 


246 


POMPEII 


LITERATURE  AND  IiNDUSTRIES 


24' 


That  instruments  were  played  in  symphony 
is  evident  from  the  frescoes  ,  notably  from  the 
beautiful  picture  of  Pan  and  the  Nymphs  in  the 
entresol  of  the  Naples  Museum,  though  it  seems 
unlikely  that  harmony  was  understood  ,  as  it 
depends  so  essentially  upon  the  use  of  thirds, 
of  which  we  find  no  trace  in  any  of  the  Roman 
writers.  Valerius  tells  us  that  the  Roman  Tibi- 
cines  were  incorporated  into  a  college,  but  this 
does  not  seem  to  have  been  the  case  at  Pompeii. 

We  use  the  word  <(  flageolet  »  where  many 
writers  use  the  word  <  flute  >,  because  the  tibia 
was  certainly  sounded  by  blowing  into  the  mouth- 
piece at  the  top  of  the  instrument,  and  not  by 
applying  the  lip  to  a  hole  in  the  barrel  of  it. 
Of  instruments  sounded  as  our  flutes  are  ,  we 
have  no  certain  trace  at  Pompeii ,  but  of  the 
tibia  both  single  and  double  we  have  many 
examples.  The  latter  was  called  by  the  Greeks 
«  male  and  female  >,  indicating  no  doubt  that 
the  one  was  bass  and  the  other  treble;  the  Ro- 
mans called  them  simply  <  right  >  and  «.  left  >, 
but  the  mention  of  certain  music  being  played 
with  two  €  right  >  instruments  (duobus  dextris) 
shows  that  there  was  a  difference  in  the  pitch 
of  the  two  pipes  of  the  double  instrument.  We 
have  a  mosaic  which  shows  clearly  enough  how 
the  double  tibia  was  used.    It  had  two  mouth- 


pieces ,  and  was  tied  round  the  head  of  the 
performer.  Of  the  other  musical  instruments  in 
use  at  Pompeii  we  have  certain  specimens  in  the 
case  of  the  cornua  or  large  trumpets,  a  doubtful 
specimen  of  the  tuba  or  straight  trumpet ;  a  part 
of  some  bagpipes  ;  many  sistra,  tibiae,  and  cym- 
bals ;  and  an  important  fragment  which  seems 
to  have  been  a  large  syrinx  or  Pandean  pipe. 
We  know  the  forms  of  many  of  the  string  in- 
struments from  the  frescoes  and  the  bronzes, 
but  no  specimens  of  them  have  yet  been  disco- 
vered ;  and  this  most  probably  because  they 
would  be  made  of  wood,  which,  with  the  strings 
would  certainly  perish. 

Of  the  Fuller's  craft  we  have  abundant  traces 
in  various  establishments  scattered  about  the 
town  in  which  their  business  was  carried  on. 
One  of  the  most  important  of  these  is  situated 
next  door  to  the  House  of  Orpheus  in  the  Street 
of  Vesuvius.  Here  we  see  the  large  pans  in 
which  the  clothes  were  washed  by  men  who 
trod  them  out  with  their  feet.  A  picture  which 
represents  this  operation  was  taken  from  the 
large  fulling  establishment  in  the  Street  of  Mer- 
cury and  may  be  seen  in  the  Naples  Museum. 
These  washermen  placed  their  hands  upon  the 
brick  partitions  between  the  metal  wash-tubs, 
the  edges   of    which    may    still  be    seen    to  be 


■  Tiririiliiiii  iiif-iiif"  iilEafti 


248 


POMPEII 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


219 


worn  quite  smooth  by  the  friction  of  their  hands. 
The  large  cisterns  for  rinsing  the  clothes  are 
built  of  brick  and  covered  with  cement.  These 
were  filled  from  a  leaden  pipe  which  passes  up 
one  of  the  pillars.  On  the  right  is  a  small  clip- 
board or  pantry,  upon  the  floor  of  which  the 
original  fuller's  soap  still  lies  to  the  depth  of 
several  inches.  This  soap  though  eighteen-hun- 
dred  years  old,  will  still  dissolve  easily  in  water. 
We  may  suppose  that  as  a  general  rule  the 
clothes  were  dried  in  the  open  air  ,  but  when 
this  was  impossible  they  w^ere  spread  upon  a 
large  cage,  and  a  brasier  w^as  suspended  beneath 
them  ;  a  method  still  in  common  use  for  do- 
mestic purposes  in  northern  Italy  but  less  adopted 
in  the  neighbourhood  of  Naples,  because,  owing 
to  the  greater  warmth  of  the  climate,  artificial 
drying  is  seldom  required.  The  clothes  when 
sufficiently  dry  were  placed  in  a  press  and  flat- 
tened with  a  powerful  screw.  Of  this  also  we 
find  an  illustration  in  the  fresco  we  have  already 
mentioned.  There  seems  to  be  no  trace  of  a 
flat-iron  in  Pompeii,  indeed  the  use  in  England 
of  this  common  domestic  implement  does  not 
date  back  very  far,  for  we  find  that  in  the  reion 
of  Queen  Elizabeth  smooth  stones  inscribed  with 
texts  of  scripture  were  used  for  the  purpose  of 
smoothing  linen,   though  how  such  primitive  ap- 


'W 


t; 


r 


pliances  could   «  get  up  >   an    Elizabethan  ruffle 
passes  our  comprehension. 

It  is  however  unsafe  to  argue  that  the  Pom- 
peians  did  not  have  things  because  we  have 
only  recently  invented  them.  The  safety-pin, 
which  is  quite  a  modern  invention,  w^as  in  com- 
mon use  in  Pompeii.  Wire  rope  wiiich  we  look 
upon  as  a  new  discovery,  was  known  in  those 
days,  and  a  very  fine  specimen  of  it  may  be 
seen  in  the  Naples  Museum.  Martial  speaks  of 
sulphur  matches,  which  in  our  English  kitchens 
replaced  the  old-fashioned  tinder-box  scarcely 
fifty  years  ago  ,  and  the  Surgical  instruments 
found  in  Pompeii  were  lost  to  science  for  cen- 
turies and  reinvented  in  our  day  almost  in  their 
original  form. 

The  Romans  do  not  appear  to  have  used 
quills  for  writing,  but  their  pens  w^ere  made  from 
an  Egyptian  reed,  and  nibbed  much  as  ours  are. 
It  is  most  probable  that  their  papyrus  w^as  ma- 
nufactured in  Egypt  where  it  grew,  but  no 
intelligible  trace  of  papyrus  has  been  found  in 
Pompeii,  though  the  mention  of  officina  ltbra- 
RIA  which  means  «  Literary  workshop  >  in  an 
inscription  near  the  gate  of  Stabia,  and  an  elec- 
tion placard  stating  that  the  booksellers  {Librari) 
wished  Sabinus  to  be  Duumvir,  found  upon  the 
same  building,   is  sufficient  proof  that  the  Pom- 


liBfaJuaiMiiaailithiaateiliifaBUMaiah:.^^^^^ 


iri>.i«.>..^-teaA*iM6M,>ja  .'ia:--iiiair;..i«!iia  - 


^te^i^SI^^^^Si 


250 


POMPEII 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSRTIES 


251 


peians  must  have  had  books  just  as  much  as  the 
inhabitants  of  Herculaneum.  The  books  of  Ro- 
man times  were  made  of  the  papyrus  rolled  out 
flat.  This  formed  a  strip  about  three  inches  wide, 
and  these  strips  were  cut  in  lengths  of  about 
six  inches  and  pasted  together  into  a  roll  usually 
about  six  feet  in  length.  The  writing  was  in 
columns,  and  the  whole  book  when  finished  was 
rolled  upon  a  stick  with  a  boss  at  either  end. 
In  the  ordinary  way  the  writing  was  only  on 
the  outside,  but  Juvenal  speaks  of  a  very  long 
play  as  being  written  on  both  sides,  and  when 
this  was  the  case  the  manuscript  w^as  called 
opisthographon  or  <(  written  behind  >  an  expres- 
sion we  find  in  Rev:  v.  i.  and  also  in  the  book 
of  Ezekiel  ,  who  speaks  of  a  book  as  being 
<  written  within  and  without  >.  The  books  were 
called  volumina  because  they  were  rolled,  and 
the  Librarii  of  Pompeii  were  probably  scribes 
who  made  a  living  by  copying  out  manuscripts. 
The  wax  tablets  we  have  already  alluded  to 
were  discovered  in  the  house  of  the  Auctioneer 
and  Usurer  Lucius  Ca^cilius  Jucundus.  The  use 
of  such  tablets  dates  back  to  very  ancient  times. 
Homer  mentions  them,  and  they  are  frequently 
alluded  to  by  other  classical  writers.  They  were 
composed  of  small  slabs  of  deal  fitted  into  a 
frame  and  joined  by  a  hinge.  The  inner  surface 


f, 


<> 


m'" 


M 


y»i 


s 


:  y 


I 


<>  < 

■1 

4  ; 

1 

i 

i 

i 

1 

^B  ^ 

V 

^ft  ^ 

w 

^■1 

was  smeared  with  wax  ,  and  the  words  to  be 
written  were  traced  upon  the  wax  with  a  poin- 
ted instrument  called  a  stilus.  The  two  slabs 
were  then  shut  up  and  sealed  if  necessary,  and 
if  the  missive  was  an  ordinary  note  ,  it  would 
be  despatched  by  a  slave  to  its  destination.  The 
receiver  having  read  the  contents  drew  the  broad 
end  of  the  stilus  across  the  message  to  efface 
it,  and  wrote  the  answer  upon  the  same  tablet. 
Those  found  at  Pompeii  were  all  records  of 
commercial  transactions  carried  out  by  Jucundus, 
who  if  we  may  judge  by  the  malicious  expres- 
sion of  his  portrait,  w^as  a  man  of  more  than 
ordinary  astuteness,  and  less  than  average  com- 
mercial morality.  His  money-lending  transactions 
were  by  bills  payable  in  thirty  days,  with  inte- 
rest at  the  rate  of  two  per  cent  per  month.  The 
amount  he  charged  to  renew  a  bill  does  not 
appear,  but  we  may  be  sure  that  it  was  still 
more  exorbitant.  A  main  branch  of  his  business 
seems  to  have  been  auctioneering,  and  we  find 
on  all  the  documents  relatingr  to  it  that  he  was 
careful  to  subtract  his  commission  before  hand- 
ing over  the  proceeds  of  the  sale  ,  but  it  is  to 
be  observed  that  the  documents  never  mention 
the  amount  per  cent  which  he  charged.  The  in- 
genuity with  which  Professor  De  Petra  de- 
ciphered these  tablets  is  truly  marvellous,  and  they 


u 


POiMPEII 


may  rightly  be  cited  among  the  greatest  disco- 
veries of  antiquity.  The  originals  as  well  as 
some  of  the  interpretations  may  be  seen  in  the 
department  of  the  papyri  at  the  Naples  Museum, 
but  the  whole  investigation  is  published  in  a  large 
quarto  pamphlet  with  facsimile  illustrations.^ 

In  the  Naples  Museum  in  the  second  room  of 
the  small  bronzes  among-  the  writing  materials, 
some  stone  tablets  will  be  seen  which  are  thoucrht 
to  have  been  used  with  wax  like  the  wooden  ones. 

In  the  same  wall-case  is  a  bronze  pen  nibbed 
like  a  modern  one,  and  bearing-  a  strong  resem- 
blance to  the  shape  of  the  well-know^n  «  J  »  pen 
of  to-day.  It  is  w^e  believe  the  only  ancient 
example  of  a  metal  pen.  We  read  of  an  «  iron 
pen  »  in  Job  xix.  24.  but  we  should  judge  from 
the  context  that  the  allusion  w^as  only  a  meta- 
phor, and  not  to  be  taken  as  indicating  the  actual 
existence  of  such  an  implement  at  so  early  a  date. 

The  Coachmen  and  Carters  are  represented 
by  the  wheels  in  the  local  museum,  and  though 
the  Muleteers  have  left  no  material  traces  behind 
them,  the  inscription  is  interesting  as  supporting 
our    conjecture    about  the    carriage   of   the    city 

*  It  will  be  worth  while  to  mention  that  a  special 
Pompeian  library  will  be  found  in  the  Socze^a  Archeolo- 
gica  at  Pompeii.  Permission  to  read  there  can  be  obtai- 
ned at  the  office  in   the  Naples  Museum. 


UTRIIATITRK  AND  INDUSTIIIFS 


■"•■B^'wa 


4, 


Hi  rr^ 


having  been  done  by  mule  trains  ,  and  further 
on  account  of  the  nickname  Miilio  eiven  to 
Vespasian  because  he  endeavoured  to  increase 
his  revenues   by   this  kind   of  trading. 

The  Bakeries  of  Pompeii  are  numerous  and  in- 
teresting. It  is  probable  from  references  made 
by  Martial  that  the  upper  classes  used  fancy 
bread  made  in  their  own  houses,  and  that  the 
loaves  made  in  the  bakeries  wxTe  of  coarse  bread 
for  the  use  of  slaves  and  of  the  lower  orders 
generally.  That  the  bakers  of  Pompeii  ground 
their  own  corn  is  proved  by  the  mills  which 
exist  in  all  the  bakeries ,  and  an  inspection  of 
these  show^s  that  the  wheat  was  put  into  the 
hopper  at  the  top,  and  that  this  w^as  turned  by 
a  handspike  so  that  the  corn  became  triturated 
upon  the  cone  of  the  upstanding  stone  below. 
The  flour  fell  between  the  stones  into  a  trough, 
from  which  it  w^as  collected  to  be  kneaded  into 
dough.  The  mills  were  turned  by  hand  powder 
in  most  cases.  We  judge  this  to  have  been  the 
case  because  their  close  proximity  to  one  ano- 
ther w^ould  scarcely  allow^  sufficient  room  for  a 
mule  to  go  round  ;  and  the  fact  of  a  stable  ad- 
joining one  of  the  bakeries  does  not  w^eigh 
materially  in  the  argument,  because  pack  animals 
would  be  required  by  the  bakers  to  bring  the 
corn  to  the    bakery.   The    work  of    turning  the 


254 


POMPEII 


mill,  though  laborious,  was  no  doubt  often  per- 
formed by  women.  We  read  in  the  book  of 
Exodus  of  the  <  firstborn  of  the  maidservant 
that  is  behind  the  mill  >  and  in  the  Gospel  of 
St.  Matthew  of  «  two  women  grinding  at  the 
mill  »,  and  althoucrh  animals  w^ere  used  for  the 
purpose  this  was  probably  the  case  only  in  the 
larger  mills,  for  w^e  find  in  the  New^  Testament 
where  the  expression  «  it  were  better  for  him 
that  a  millstone  were  hanged  about  his  neck  > 
is  used,  the  w^ord  in  the  original  is  «  a  millstone 
such  as  is  turned  by  an  ass  >,  showing  that  the 
hand-mill  and  the  larger  mill  were  quite  distinct. 
The  ovens  used  in  Pompeii  differ  so  little  from 
our  own  and  from  each  other  ,  that  it  seems 
hardly  worth  while  to  go -into  technicalities  about 
them.  They  w^ere  generally  rectangular  in  shape, 
covered  with  a  dome,  and  closed  with  an  iron 
door.  In  one  of  them  (Reg.  vii  Ins.  i  No.  36) 
eighty-one  loaves  were  found,  of  which  several 
specimens  are  exhibited  in  the  Naples  Museum, 
one  of  them  bearing  the  inscription  which  is 
rendered  by  Dyer: 

SILICO    CRANII 
E    CICER 

who    suggests    that  it    may    indicate    that  cicer 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


255 


L 


^ 


»/ 


L 

a 

'  r 


"v 


\ 


(vetch)  was  mixed  with  the  grain.  The  letters 
of  the  inscription  (which  was  stamped)  are  how- 
ever very  indistinct ,  and  the  above  rendering 
can  in  our  opinion  rank  only  as  a  conjecture. 

The  Officina  Corariorum  or  «  House  of  the  Tan- 
ners »  is  situated  near  the  Gate  of  Stabia,  and 
forms  an  example  of  another  class  of  industry. 
It  was  a  large  establishment,  probably  used  for 
the  purpose  indicated  by  its  name,  but  nothing 
very  remarkable  was  found  in  it  excepting  the 
allegorical  mosaic  which  is  now  in  the  Naples 
Museum.  This  was  found  upon  the  table  of  an 
outdoor  triclinium,  having  evidently  been  moved 
there  from  some  other  place.  It  represents  riches 
and  poverty,  life  and  death,  by  a  series  of  sym- 
bols which   may  be  explained  as  follows. 

At  the  top  is  the  letter  Alpha,  the  beginning 
of  all  things,  made  to  represent  a  square,  with 
a  plumb-line,  the  emblem  of  rectitude,  hanging 
from  its  apex.  It  is  in  fact  not  an  ancde  of  ni- 
nety  degrees,  but  obtuse.  The  two  ends  of  the 
Alpha  are  supported  on  one  side  by  a  reversed 
lance  with  the  royal  purple  to  signify  wealth, 
and  on  the  other  by  a  broken  staff,  wallet,  and 
rags  to  denote  poverty.  The  large  skull  in  the 
centre  indicates  death;  the  butterfly  beneath  it, 
the  soul  ;  and  the  wheel,  human  life.  An  ino-e- 
nious   writer    in  an    Italian    Masonic    periodical 


25G 


POMPj«:n 


endeavoured  to  prove  that  this  mosaic  was  cer- 
tain evidence  of  the  existence  of  Freemasonry 
in  Pompeii,  and  further  that  the  building-  in  which 
it  was  found  was  a  Lodge  belongin"'-  to  this 
ancient  and  lionourable  fraternity  !  As  we  do 
not  think  that  his  speculations  on  Roman  Free- 
masonry add  materially  to  the  archeology  either 
of  Masonry  or  of  the  city,  we  refrain  from  quo- 
ting his  arguments. 

It  appears  to  us  that  the  premises  might  just 
as  well  have  been  used  for  dyeworks  as  for  a 
tanyard.  in  which  case  the  garments  on  each 
side  of  the  mosaic  would  represent  the  dyer's 
trade,  showing  the  undyed  shabby  coat  on  the 
one  side,  transformed  by  the  dyer  into  the  purple 
garment  on  the  other. 

There  are  many  houses  in  Pompeii  called  by 
the  names  of  various  other  trades,  and  if  we  do 
not  go  into  these  more  fully  it  is  not  because 
we  have  not  bestowed  careful  attention  upon 
them,  but  because  in  our  opinion  the  nomencla- 
ture of  them  is  in  the  main  fanciful.  The  follow- 
ing is  a  tolerably  comprehensive  list  of  them ; 
Armourer's  shop,  so  called  because  one  sword 
was  found  in  it,  and  it  was  decorated  with  pic- 
tures of  gladiators;  Barber's  shop,  so  called 
because  it  is  a  very  small  place  with  a  pillar  in 
the  centre;   Milkseller   because    there    is  a  croat 


LITERATURE  AND  INDUSTRIES 


257 


'*'/ 


L 


*) 


I* 


L 


'  H 


"v 


upon  the  doorpost ;  Colourman  ,  from  colours 
being  found  there.  Besides  these  we  find  Soap- 
makers,  Chemists  ,  and  Druggists  all  named 
without  any  special  reason. 

In  the  same  w^ay  although  we  find  a  house 
called  <(  The  Sculptor's  Studio  >  we  cannot  al- 
low that  it  is  called  so  with  sufficient  reason. 
It  seems  certain  that  if  we  found  a  studio  in 
Pompeii  w^e  should  find  a  great  deal  of  unfinished 
work  in  it;  many  models  and  casts  ,  tools  and 
designs;  and  we  can  only  hope  that  the  day  is 
not  far  distant  when  we  shall  come  upon  so  in- 
teresting a  discovery  ;  for  there  can  be  no  doubt 
that  there  must  be  somewhere  in  the  town  ,  a 
studio  where  statues  or  tombs  were  being  made 
at  the  time  of  the  catastrophe. 

We  know  indirectly  that  there  were  in  the 
city  many  trades  which  are  not  included  in  the 
above  list.  Blacksmiths  must  have  been  nume- 
rous, as  a  great  deal  of  ironwork  exists  in  all 
the  buildings.  A  very  interesting  iron  candela- 
brum was  found  in  1887,  but  as  far  as  we  are 
aware  all  the  iron  found  has  been  wrought,  and 
not  cast.  No  stirrups  have  been  discovered,  and 
as  they  are  never  depicted  in  the  paintings  or 
seen  upon  the  statues,  it  would  seem  probable 
that  though  the  Romans  certainly  had  saddles, 

the  apparently  obvious  contrivance  of  a  stirrup 

17 


><^-.«.A-.>,-!:-i».a.'-.«  -liM  i..  :,.LlJjjiaiiti&attJMMiaiAJi&ia,i^^ 


c 


258 


POMPEII 


UTEHAIURE  AND  INDUSTH'ES 


259 


had  not  occurred  to  them.  It  seems  also  that  in 
Italy  their  horses  were  not  shod,  though  there 
are  some  Roman  horse-shoes  in  the  British  Mu- 
seum which  show  that  when  they  got  to  Encr- 
land  they  found  this  precaution  necessary.  And 
this  quite  coincides  with  our  own  experience, 
which  is  that  horses  may  safely  go  unshod  in 
a  dry  climate,  but  in  a  damp  one  the  hoof  re- 
quires a  protection  of  some  kind  as  it  becomes 
much  softer  from  wet,  and  cannot  stand  friction 
and  percussion.  Many  things  that  we  make  in 
iron  were  in  those  days  made  in  bronze,  for  the 
reason  that  the  latter  metal  was  easily  cast,  and 
hence  we  find  hinges,  locks  and  other  household 
furniture  made  of  it  in  preference  to  the  harder 
material. 

The  frequent  occurrence  of  boots  and  shoes 
in  the  frescoes  and  bronzes  points  to  the  exi- 
stence of  bootmakers,  and  the  fine  bronze  shoe 
upon  a  fragment  of  a  statue  in  the  Capitoline 
Museum  at  Rome  shows  that  skilled  tradesmen 
existed  in  those  days.  There  must  have  been 
Saddlers  also,  for  we  have  very  many  specimens 
of  buckles  ,  bits  ,  and  metal  work  belonging  to 
harness,  and  a  close  observation  of  some  of  the 
specimens  at  Naples  shows  the  thread  which 
secured  the  metal  to  the  leather. 

The    Fruiterers    seem    to  have    had  a    large 


«9 


number  of  shops  near  the  Forum,  and  as  far  as 
we  can  judge,  their  wares  were  pretty  much  the 
same  as  our  greengrocers    sell   to-day  ;   except- 
ing that  oranges  and  lemons  had  in  those  days 
not  been   intrc  duced  into  Italy.  These  came  sub- 
sequently from    Portugal.   Of  their  other    fruits 
they  derived  peaches  from  Persia,  and  figs  from 
Asia  Minor.  The  Roman  flora  is  well  represented 
in  the  frescoes,  and   a  complete  list    was  publi- 
shed with  the  scientific  names,  by  Professor  Co- 
mes in   1879."^  In  the  same  work  an  account  of 
the  shells  of  Pompeii   will  also  be  found,  but  we 
think  our    readers    generally     would   find    these 
subjects  uninteresting,  so  we  do  not    reproduce 
the  schedules.   The  very  large  number  of  snail- 
shells  discovered  is  interesting  as  showing  that 
the  Romans  were  as  fond  of  this  delicacy  (?)  as 
their  Neapolitan  posterity,  and  we  think  it  pro- 
bable   that    the    snail     soup     simmered    on    the 
Pompeian  curbstones  just  as  it  does  throughout 
the  winter  months  at  the  street  corners  of  Naples. 
There  must  almost  certainly  have  been  a  glass- 
blowing  establishment  in  or  near  the  tow^n,  though 
glass-makers  and  potters  may  probably  have  had 
their    workshops    without  the    walls.   It    is    not 

*  Illustrazionc  delle  piarite  rappresentate  neidipinti pom- 

peiani.  Estratto  dal  Volume  Pompei  e  la  reglone  sotter- 
rata  dal  Vesuvio  nell'anno  LXXIX,  Napoli  1879. 


260 


POMPEII 


probable  that  the  glass  and  pottery  came  from 
any  <^'-reat  distance,  as  their  brittle  nature  would 
not  allow  of  a  long   journey  in  a  cart    without 

springs. 

We  have  said  enough  to  show  that  there  is 
still  a  great  deal  to  be  discovered  before  we 
can  flatter  ourselves  that  we  have  found  out  all 
there  is  to  know  about  the  trades  of  Pompeii, 
or  arrived  at  a  certain  conclusion  as  to  the  me- 
thods used  by  the  ancients  in  the  production  of 
the  various  objects  of  use  and  ornament  which 
form  so  great  an  attraction  in  the  museums  of 
the  Graeco-Roman  period. 


M 


)l^j 


an 


; 


'I 


■*t 


I, 


I 


CHAPTER  XI 

TFTE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VET  Til 

Atrium — Desertion  of  Ariadne — Hero  and  Leander — Cy- 
parissus  —  Cupid  and  Pari  —  Ala  —  Hercules  and  the 
Serpents — Death  of  Peyitheus — Punishment  of  Dirce — 
Peristyle  or  Garden  Court — Oecus — Iphigenia  in  Tau- 
ris — The  Slaughter  of  the  Pythoii — The  Sacrilege  of 
Agamemnon —  The  band  of  the  Dado — Boys  and  duck — 
Target  practice — Garland  makers — Oil  making — The 
Chariot  Race —  The  Goldsmiths —  The  Fullers — A  day 
in  the  country —  The  Vintage —  The  Triumph  of  Bac- 
chus—  The  Vintner — The  missing  picture — The  Srnal^ 
ler  Court  —  Hercules  and  Auge  —  Daedalus  and  Pasi- 
phae  —  Ariadne  found  by  Bacchus  —  The  Torture  of 
Ixion — The  Kitchen  and  offices, 

IMMEDIATELY  behind  the  <  House  of  the  Faun>  stands 
the  <k  House  of  the  Vettii  >,  so  called  because  the 
seal  of  the  family  was  found  in  it.  Besides  being 
the  last  house  discovered,  it  is  unquestionably 
in  point  of  painting    and    decoration    the    finest 


262 


POMPEII 


house  in  the  city,  and  must  have  belonged  to 
a  man  of  wealth  and  of  great  taste  in  the  Fine 
Arts.  It  is  in  fact  so  elaborate  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  remove  the  treasures  it  contains,  so 
the  Direction  wisely  determined  to  build  it  up, 
roof  it  over,  and  preserve  it  as  it  is.  Moreover 
they  have  laid  out  the  garden,  and  w^e  may  say 
that  as  it  stands,  we  have  as  good  an  idea  of 
a  Roman  house  when  we  enter  it  as  it  is  possible 
to  contemplate.  In  size  too  it  is  above  the  ave- 
rage of  Pompeian  houses,  and  the  treatment  of 
some  of  the  subjects  displays  an  originality  ra- 
rely met  with  in  the  art  of  the  city.  For  in  fact 
almost  all  the  pictures  we  have  were  no  doubt 
traditions  of  the  famous  pictures  of  the  better 
epochs  of  painting  ,  and  had  been  reproduced 
again  and  again  by  Greek  artists  who  made 
house  decoration  their  business  ,  wandering  as 
likely  as  not  from  town  to  town  ,  and  painting 
a  room  here  and  another  there  according  to  the 
commissions  they  received. 

On  entering  the  house  we  pass  through  a 
highly  decorated  lobby  to  a  Court  with  the  re- 
mains of  the  strong  boxes  in  which  the  owner 
kept  his  deeds  and  his  money  standing  against 
the  walls.  These  were  found  empty,  showing  that 
Vettius  escaped  with  his  life,  and  returned,  dis- 
covered the  situation  of  his  house,  and  dug  out 


THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VETTII 


268 


il 
ipi. 


^ 


4) 


^l 


\\ 


i 


^Ji 


his  treasure.  There  can  be  little  doubt  that  he 
had  a  good  rummage  all  over  the  house,  for  it  is 
pretty  sure  that  in  such  a  dwelling  there  must  have 
been  imperishable  jewels,  silver  plate,  and  such 
things,  which  would  have  survived  there  as  they 
have  survived  in  so  many  other  houses  of  the  city. 

Let  us  now  take  a  walk  round  the  house  and 
examine  the  pictures  at  our  leisure.  The  first 
room  on  our  left  contains  a  rendering  of  the 
well-worn  theme  of  the  Desertion  of  Ariadne.  It  will 
be  remembered  that  when  Theseus  went  to  Crete 
to  kill  the  Minotaur,  Ariadne  fell  in  love  with 
the  handsome  and  valiant  stranger;  gave  him  the 
clue  to  the  labyrinth,  and  eventually  fled  with 
him  from  Crete  to  Naxos.  Soon  after  his  arrival 
there  he  basely  deserted  her,  and  sailed  away  to 
Athens.  In  most  of  the  paintings  Ariadne  is  re- 
presented as  lying  asleep  on  the  beach  ,  and 
Theseus  is  observed  sailing  away  in  the  far  di- 
stance; but  our  artist  has  given  reins  to  his  fancy 
and  shows  her  kissing  her  hand  to  Theseus  as  if 
she  were  rather  pleased  than  not  at  his  departure ! 

On  the  other  wall  of  this  room  we  see  an 
almost  grotesque  drawing  of  the  legend  of  Hero 
and  Leander.  Hero  the  priestess  of  Aphrodite  is 
seen  at  her  window  holding  in  her  hand  the 
lamp  by  which  her  lover  directed  his  nightly 
course,  for  he  used  to  swim  across  the  Helles- 


>64 


POMPEII 


pont  in  the  evening,  returning  again  before 
daylight  in  the  morning.  He  did  it  once  too  often, 
and  when  his  corpse  was  washed  up  at  the  feet 
of  his  beloved  she  completed  the  tragedy  by 
casting  herself  into  the  sea  beside  him.  In  order 
to  obtain  a  second  distance  the  artist  has  in  the 
background  introduced  three  dolphins  which  have 
a  rather  singular  effect. 

In  the  second  room  we  find  a  picture  of  a 
youth  seated  with  a  wounded  stag  at  his  side. 
This  is  a  most  interesting  picture,  being  the  first 
yet  discovered  of  this  subject.  It  represents 
Cyparissus  the  son  of  Telephus,  seated  on  a  rock 
with  the  tripod,  «  omphalos  »,  and  other  emblems 
of  his  patron  Apollo.  His  pet  stag  with  a  collar 
round  its  neck,  and  a  broken  javelin  sticking  up 
out  of  its  back  ,  is  looking  up  at  him  with  a 
most  piteous  expession.  According  to  the  legend, 
Cyparissus  wounded  his  pet  by  misadventure 
and  was  so  distressed  at  the  incident,  that  Apollo 
changed  him  into  a  cypress  tree.  Besides  this 
there  is  an  important  picture  of  the  frequent 
subject  of  the  Fight  between  Cupid  and  Pan  in  the 
presence  of  Bacchus,  Silenus,  and  their  retinue. 
Pan  has  his  left  hand  tied  to  his  tail,  to  equa- 
lise the  battle  ,  and  the  expression  of  all  the 
Jookers-on  is  admirably  rendered.  The  idea  run- 


4 


^}>i 


t| 


*) 


1^' 


i 


\ 


'5 


ft  ^ 

> 


m 


THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VETTII 


265 


ning  through  the  picture,  is  the  triumph  of  love 
over  strength,  and  the  presence  of  Ariadne  who 
is  seated  next  to  Bacchus  points  the  moral;  for 
Theseus  the  great  hero  of  antiquity  had  won 
Ariadne,  and  Bacchus  the  effeminate  took  her 
from  him  by  the  power  of  love.  There  was  once 
a  picture  on  the  right  wall,  but  this  was  destroy- 
ed when  the  Vettii  ransacked  the  house  after 
the  eruption,  for  a  hole  was  made  through  this 
wall  at  that  point  in  order  to  gain  access  to  the 
room.  Of  the  upper  row  of  pictures  the  two 
most  important  are  Leda  and  the  swan  ,  and 
Jupiter  enthroned. 

The  ala  on  this  side  of  the  house  is  finely 
decorated  but  does  not  require  particular  descrip- 
tion. A  low  wall  was  built  across  the  front  of  it, 
as  if  it  were  intended  for  use  as  a  shallow  tank. 
The  rooms  adjoining  have  no  decoration  calling 
for  special  attention,  and  we  may  pass  on  to  the 
room  at  the  left  hand  corner  of  the  <  Peristyle  >, 
or  <  Garden  Court  »,  where  we  find  three  im- 
portant pictures.  On  the  left  wall  we  see  Hercules 
strangling  the  Serpents  in  the  presence  of  his  mo- 
ther Alcmena  and  her  husl)and  Amphitryon.  We 
have  other  illustrations  of  this  subject  found  at 
Pompeii,  and  the  story  is  so  well  known  that  it 
is  not  necessary  to  give  it  here.  With   regard  to 


266 


POMPEII 


the  picture  on  the  wall  which  faces  us  as  we 
enter,  the  case  is  different.  This  represents  the 
comparatively  unknown  legend  of  the  Death  of  Pen- 
theus,  who  is  said  to  have  climbed  up  into  a  tree 
to  witness  the  women  at  their  Bacchic  revels. 
Among  the  ladies  engaged  in  these  somewhat 
compromising  proceedings  were  his  mother  and 
sisters,  and  they  were  so  incensed  at  being  spied 
upon  that  they  incontinently  killed  him.  He  is 
represented  as  being  held  by  two  of  them,  while 
the  third  has  a  large  stone  in  her  hand  with 
which  she  is  about  to  crush  him.  The  «  throw  > 
of  the  blue  drapery  of  the  central  figure  cannot 
fail  to  attract  the  attention  of  a  visitor,  and  the 
whole  execution  of  the  picture  is  remarkably 
expressive.  The  last  picture  in  the  room  repre- 
sents the  Punishment  of  Dirce  who  was  tied  to  a 
bull  by  her  two  step-sons  Zethus  and  Amphion. 
The  famous  group  of  the  «  Farnese  bull  >  once 
in  the  baths  of  Caracalla  at  Rome,  and  now  in  the 
Naples  museum  will  have  rendered  our  readers 
familiar  with  the  legend. 

We  will  now  pass  on  to  the  <c  Peristyle  >,  or 
<  Garden  Court  »,  which  has  been  elegantly  laid 
out  by  the  Direction  ,  and  presents  no  doubt 
much  the  same  appearance  as  it  did  in  the  days 
so  long  gone  by.  The  only  thing  we  miss  is 
the  water,  which  in  classical  days  played  abun- 


ii 


fi 


*) 


^*4) 


iSsMk 


THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VETTII 


267 


dantly  in  all  directions,    as  the    silent    presence 
of  the    pipes    testifies.   The    cloister    is    prettily 
painted,  and  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  these 
cloisters  the  Romans  spent  most  of  their  time. 
Like  the  Neapolitans  of  to-day  they  lived  mainly 
in  the  open  air,  and  could  choose  the  sunny  or 
the  shady  side  of  their  cloisters  as  weather  or 
inclination  prompted  them.   The  pictures   of  the 
peristyle  are   merely  decorative  in  character  and 
need   no  description;  while  the  three    tables,  of 
which  the  one  with  lions    heads  is    particularly 
handsome  ,   show    that  the    Roman    ladies  took 
whatever  was  their    equivalent  for  five  o'  clock 
tea  habitually  in  the  garden,  and  it  will  be  no- 
ticed that  the  tables  are  so  placed  that  one  or 
other  of  them  was  available  in  whatever  direc- 
tion the  wind  was  blowing  or  the  sun  shining. 
The  travertine  puteal  and    marble  basins    have 
nothing  very  special  about  them  ;  but  there  are 
two  elegant  pillars    with    foliage    decoration  on 
them,  and  interesting  heads,  dating    perhaps  as 
far  back  as  the  beginning  of  our  era,  which  de- 
serve study.  The  two  bronze  figures    are    good 
of  their  period,  but  they  are  of  a  very  debased 
time,  probably  as  late  a?  Nero  or  Vespasian. 

We  now  come  to  the  superlative  item  in  the 
house ;    a    room    before    which    everything    yet 


268 


POMPEII 


found  in  Pompeii  fades  into  nothingness,  and  it 
is  most  difficult  to  do  anything  like  justice  to  it. 
We  must  begin  by  leaving  such  of  the  painting 
as  is  merely  decorative  severely  alone  ;  the  vi- 
sitor must  study  this  on  his  own  account  ,  but 
even  if  we  confine  ourselves  to  the  subject  pic- 
tures there  is  ample  scope  for  a  long  dissertation. ' 
For  first  of  all  the  tone  of  the  red  of  the  ground 
colour  is  diverse  from  the  colour  usually  called 
«  Pompeian  red  ».  It  resembles  rather  an  eccle- 
siastical red,  being  blue  in  tone,  whereas  what 
we  call  Pompeian  red  is  of  a  yellow  tone.  The 
figures  on  the  dado  are  among  the  finest  found 
in  the  city  both  in  pose  and  drapery.  They  are 
painted  with  wonderful   spirit  and  energy. 

THE    THREE    CLASSICAL     PICTURES 

To  turn  now  to  the  pictures  properly  so  cal- 
led. We  have  first  three  classical  pictures, 
representing  i.  Iphigenia  in  Tauris,  2.  The 
Slaughter  of  the  Python,  3.  The  Sacrilege  of 
Agamemnon.  There  was  a  fourth  picture  of 
the  series,  but  unfortunately  that  is  lost.  We 
have  besides  five  pretty  groups  of  winged  girls 
picking  flowers,  and  we  have  a  series  of  fifteen 
pictures  of  Cupids  engaged  in  a  variety  of  in- 
dustrial and  other  pursuits. 


THE  HOUSl':  OF  THE  VETTII 


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I.  Iphigenia  in  Tauris.  The  story  is  briefly  this. 
Iphigenia  was  vowed  as  a  sacrifice  to  Artemis 
by  her  father  at  Aulis,  and  just  as  the  sacrifice 
was  about  to  take  place,  the  goddess  interposed 
and  carried  the  maiden  off  to  Tauris  where  she 
became   her    priestess  ,   and  had    charge  of    the 
sacred  ima^re    which     the    ancients    believed  to 
have  fallen  from  heaven.  Her   brothers  Orestes 
and   Pylades  being  ignorant  of  her  fate  came  to 
tauris  intending  to  steal  the  image.  Thoas  king 
of  Tauris  gave  the  usual  order  that  as  foreigners 
they  should  be  sacrificed  to  Artemis.   Iphigenia 
rescued  them,  and  eventually   she    and  Orestes 
carried  off  the  sacred  image  to  Sparta. 

The  picture  before  us  represents  King  Thoas 
on  the  extreme  right,  and  Orestes  and  Pylades 
on  the  left,  with  Iphigenia  in  the  centre.  She 
is  holding  the  image  of  the  goddess  in  her  left 
hand,  and  is  extinguishing  a  torch  with  her  right. 

2.  The  Slaughter  of  the  Python.  This  was  the  great 
serpent  the  survivor  of  the  deluge  of  Deucalion, 
which  was  slain  by  Apollo. 

In  the  foreground  we  have  the  <  omphalos  > 
of  Apollo  covered  with  a  white  net,  and  round 
it  the  dead  serpent  is  coiled.  Behind  is  a  pillar 
upon  which  the  bow^  and  quiver  of  the  God  are 
hanging.  Next  to  it  is  a  priest  making  a  gesture 
of  astonishment.  Next  to  him  is  Apollo  himself, 


270 


POMPEII 


THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VETTII 


271 


dancing  and  playing  on  his  lyre.  The  outer  fig- 
ures are  two  women  ,  one  leading  a  bull ,  the 
other  leaning  on  a  pillar  in  a  graceful  attitude. 

3.  The  Sacrilege  of  Agamemnon.  When  the  Greek 
fleet  was  detained  at  Aulis,  Agamemnon  slew  a 
stao-  which  was  sacred  to  Artemis,  and  it  was 
on  this  account  that  he  was  ordered  by  Cal- 
chas  to  propitiate  the  goddess  by  the  sacrifice 
of  his  daughter  Iphigenia.  The  picture  is  one  of 
very  graceful  simplicity,  and  represents  Agamem- 
non with  a  drawn  sword  rushing  into  the  sanc- 
tuary and  driving  the  terrified  priestess  from  the 
shrine.  This  was  no  doubt  the  preliminary  to 
the  sacrilege  of  killing  the  stag  which  w^e  see 
on  the  left. 

There  are  five  pretty  pictures  of  winged  girls 
picking  flowers,  two  on  each  of  the  long  walls, 
and  one  on  the  upper  w^all.  These  require  no 
further  description,  and  together  with  the  deco- 
rative painting  w^e  will  leave  them  to  the  study 
of  the  visitor. 

THE    BAND    OF    THE    DADO 

But  the  band  at  the  top  of  the  Dado  falls 
into  quite  a  different  category,  for  here  we  have 
a  number  of  pictures  running  in  a  band  com- 
pletely round  this    large  room  ,  and  all    in  the 


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most  exquisite  taste,  and  absolutely  marvellous 
alike  in  conception,  grouping  and  execution.  In- 
deed the  refinement  of  them  is  such  that  even 
to  give  an  intelligent  person  who  sees  them  for 
the  first  time  a  key  to  the  study  of  them,  is  a 
sufticiently  difticult  task.  They  were  originally 
fifteen  in  number,  but  those  on  the  left  wall  are 
nearly  all  gone,  while  those  on  the  right  wall 
are  in  wonderful  preservation. 
The  subjects  are  as  follows. 

1.  Beginning  on  the  right  as  we  enter  we  see 
two  boys  playing  with  a  duck. 

2.  Target  practice.  Boys  throwing  stones  at  a 
wooden  target.  The  boy  standing  by  the  target 
is  the  loser,   and  will  have  to  pay  forfeit. 


ON     IHE    RIGHT    WALL 

^  3.  Garland  makers.  A  goat  laden  with  flowers  is 
bemg  driven  towards  a  group  of  boys  who  are 
busy  making  garlands  of  roses. 

These  garlands  (called  «  serta  »  by  the  Ro- 
mans) were  used  for  the  decoration  of  houses 
and  particularly  for  feasts.  The  seller  is  at  his 
counter,  a  handsome  marble  table  ,  and  many 
wreaths  are  seen  hanging  up  for  sale  in  the  shop. 
4.  Oil  making.  Here  we  have  the  press  which 
operates  into  a  stone  basin  similar  to  some  which 


272 


POMPEII 


THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VE  ITIl 


273 


have  been  found  in  the  city.  Two  boys  are  driv- 
ing in  wedges  with  might  and  main,  to  cause 
a  greater  pressure.  Beyond  them  two  others  with 
long  sticks  are  stirring  up  the  oil  in  a  large 
vessel.  On  the  dresser  behind  is  a  weighing 
machine,  and  in  front  of  it  a  boy  holding  up  a 
bottle  of  oil,  similar  to  that  in  the  Naples  mu- 
seum, which  was  found  full  of  oil  at  Pompeii. 
This  oives  a  little  more  evidence  than  that  al- 
ready  existing  that  in  Roman  times  oil  was  sold 
by  weight. 

5.  The  Chariot  Race.  The  race  is  in  chariots 
drawn  by  antelopes  and  run  round  three  olive 
trees  as  oroals.  The  starter  is  a  most  comical 
figure  and  the  upset  of  the  chariot  in  the  centre 
is  extremely  realistic  ,  while  the  expression  of 
the  boy  who  is  trying  to  avoid  driving  over  his 
fallen  companion  is  inimitable. 

6.  The  Goldsmiths.  This  is  a  pretty  picture  of 
the  making  and  selling  of  gold  ornaments.  The 
purchaser  is  seated  and  the  seller  with  a  scale 
equipoised  in  his  hand,  is  driving  his  bargain, 
while  the  others  are  engaged  in  various  opera- 
tions of  the  craft. 

7.  The  Fullers.  This  was  an  important  trade  at 
Pompeii,  and  the  guild  was  evidently  a  very 
wealthy  one.  We  have  more  than  one  pictorial 
representation   of   the  craft  ,  and    no  less    than 


'if 


three  establishments  where  it  was  cprried  on 
may  be  seen  in  the  city.  The  movement  of  the 
little  figure  scrubbing  the  cloth  in  the  centre  is 
particularly  engaging. 

ON    THE    UPPER    WALL 

8.  A  day  in  the  country.  This  picture  is  indistinct, 
but  it  is  evidently  a  feast  in  the  open  air,  and 
may  be  some  religious  rite  ,  as  these  were  al- 
ways accompanied  by  feasting,  and  often  held 
out  of  doors. 

9.  The  Vintage.  A  Cupid  is  gathering  grapes 
while  two  others  are  working  hard  at  the  wine 
press.  The  lower  of  the  two  is  kneeling  on  his 
handspike,  while  the  other  little  fellow  is  mak- 
ing superhuman  efforts  to  turn  the  windlass  a 
little  tighter. 

10.  The  Triumph  of  Bacchus.  This  is  as  spirited 
a  picture  as  any  in  the  series ,  and  represents 
the  usual  Bacchic  procession  of  merry  women 
with  the  thyrsus,  satyrs,  goats  drawing  the  car, 
and  musicians;   all  full  of  life  and  freedom. 

ON    THE    LEFT    WALL 

1 1.  The  Vintner.  Here  we  see  the  customer  tast- 
ing the  wine,  which  is  being  handed  to  him  by 

18 


274 


POMPEir 


THE  HOUSE  OF  THE  VETl'II 


275 


the  merchant,   while  the  assistants   are   pouring 
another  sample  into  a  similar  goblet. 

This  is  the  last  of  the  series,  the  remaining 
four  being  obliterated. 

THE    MISSING    PICTURE 

Having  noted  the  most  remarkable  thincrs  in 
the  room  we  must  not  leave  it  w^ithout  discussing 
the  large  blank  space  opposite  the  main  entrance 
of  it  on  the  upper  wall.  It  is  a  large  rectangular 
cavity  in  the  plaster  ,  which  apparently  at  one 
time  contained  a  picture.  All  round  the  cavity 
are  large  holdfasts,  put  there  by  the  ancients,  by 
whom  in  fact  the  painting  was  certainly  removed. 
They  may  have  removed  it  because  it  was  part  of 
an  older  decoration,  and  not  in  keeping  with  the 
beautiful  work  we  have  been  describing;  or, 
because  it  was  a  valuable  picture,  and  therefore 
the  owner  when  he  searched  the  house  after  the 
eruption  took  it  away  because  he  valued  it.  We 
know  that  the  house  w^as  ransacked ,  for  a 
fragment  of  a  bronze  statuette,  and  of  a  marble 
one  were  found  in  the  peristyle  ,  which  had 
undoubtedly  been  broken  in  process  of  removal, 
or  we  should  have  found  the  rest  of  them. 

There  is  not  much   more  to  detain  us  in  the 


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house.  We  have  next  on  our  left  a  small  court 
with  a  tank  and  pillars  in  it  very  prettily  de- 
corated. In  one  of  the  rooms  off  it  are  two  pic- 
tures, the  one  representing  Hercules  and  Auge,  and 
the  other  in  so  fragmentary  a  condition  that  to 
name  its  subject  is  mere  guesswork. 

The  last  room  of  the  house  contains  three 
pictures,  namely, 

1.  Daedalus  and  Pasiphae.  Here  Daedalus  is  show- 
ing her  the  cow  he  made  for  her  ,  the  details 
of  the  legend  are  not  suited  for  publication  in 
a  modern   work. 

2.  Ariadne  found  by  Bacchus  at  Naxos,  of  which 
we  have  already  spoken  in  the  earlier  part  of 
this  notice;  and 

3.  The  Torture  of  Ixion.  This  very  fine  painting 
represents  Ixion  fastened  to  the  wheel  by  Mer- 
cury, having  been  condemned  to  this  punishment 
by  Jove  on  account  of  his  high-treason  in  hav- 
ing made  love  to  Juno.  Her  Majesty  sits  by  much 
gratified  by  the  work  that  is  going  forward,  while 
a  crouched  figure  in  the  foreground  shows  pity 
for  the  victim.  The  wheel  it  will  be  remembered 
was  set   rolling  in  space  for  ever  and  ever! 

The  kitchen  and  offices  are  behind  this  room, 
and  the  former  has  been  left  exactly  as  it  was 
found,   which  gives  it  a  special  interest. 


CHAPTER  XII 


ITINERARY 


The  following  itinerary  is  divided  into  three 
excursions,  of  which  the  First  includes  all  that 
part  of  the  city  which  lies  to  the  w^estw^ard  of 
the  Greater  Forum  and  of  the  street  of  Mercury: 
the  Second  all  that  quarter  to  the  South  of  the 
Street  of  Abundance,  together  with  the  amphi- 
theatre and  city  w^alls:  the  Third,  the  centre  and 
eastern  side  of  the  city.  We  have  decided  to 
adopt  the  Italian  names  when  they  differ  mate- 
rially from  the  English  ones,  so  that  the  reader 
who  has  the  book  in  his  hand  when  he  visits 
the  town,  may  be  able  to  consult  without  diffi- 
culty the  Government  Guide  even  if  he  should 
not  be  acquainted  with  the  Italian  language. 

The  sequence  of  the  buildings  has  been  very 
carefully  arranged  so  as  to  avoid  loss  of  time; 
indeed  by  following  the  book  and    keeping  the 


ITINERARY 


277 


*    \^- 


'i'         ^- 


\ 


\- 

-m^-    I 

^^^^x 

^^^B 

map  before  him,  the  reader  should  without  any 
other  assistance  be  able  easily  to  indentify  the 
items  selected.  We  shall  be  careful  not  to  re- 
peat information  already  given,  but  merely  note 
the  number  of  the  page  upon  which  it  may  be 
found  ,  and  thus  we  hope  we  may  be  able  to 
give  a  comprehensive  idea  of  the  whole  city, 
and  show  clearly  the  relative  dependence  of  its 
several  parts. 

It  will  be  obvious  that  the  following  excursions 
are  only  sketches  to  be  filled  in  by  personal 
observation  on  the  spot.  A  detailed  description 
of  the  houses  alone  w^ould  fill  many  pages,  and 
be  very  dull  reading  into  the  bargain.  It  must 
be  remembered  that  all  the  most  interesting 
specimens  have  been  removed  to  Naples,  and  it 
is  most  unsatisfactory  to  write  details  of  objects 
which  are  no  longer  in  the  houses  described. 
We  therefore  mention  such  items  only  when  they 
are  of  special  interest,  as  our  readers  will  find 
them  all  described  in  the  Complete  Handbook 
to  the  Naples  Museum.  We  also  pass  over  the 
architectural  details  of  the  houses  because  the 
reader  can  observe  these  personally,  and  the  key 
to  them  will  be  found  in  the  general  description 
of  a  Roman  house  ,  pages  6i  to  64.  If  these 
pages  are  carefully  mastered,  we  apprehend  that 
no  difficulty  will  be  found  in  understanding  the 


V        I 


278 


POMPEII 


arrangement  of  the    houses  we    select    for  the 
itinerary. 

Each  excursion  is  calculated  to  occupy  three 
hours,  and  it  will  be  found  that  this  is  as  much 
as  can  be  done  carefully  and  intelligently  in  a 
single  day,  as  walking  in  the  city  is  very  fati- 
guing. The  best  course  is  to  leave  Naples  by 
the  eight  o*  clock  train  (ascertain  exact  time  as 
the  time-bills  are  often  altered),  spend  three 
hours  in  the  ruins,  lunch  at  one  of  the  Restau- 
rants outside  the  Gate,  and  return  by  the  1.36 
express  to  Naples.  Late  in  the  season  it  is  con- 
venient to  go  out  by  the  2.  p.  m.  train  and 
return  by  the  6.30. 

The  station  of  Torre  dell'Annunziata  Centrale 
is  nearly  as  convenient  as  the  Pompeii  station, 
being  only  a  few  minutes  drive  from  the  ruins, 
hence  it  is  sometimes  advisable  to  go  or  return 
by  that  route. 


ITINERARY 


279 


FIRST  EXCURSION: 

THE    WESTERN    SIDE    OF     I'HE    CITY 

Tke  Sea   Gate — The  Museum^  The  Basilica —  The  Tem- 
ple of  Apollo—  The   Corn  Hall—  The   Temple  of  Jupi- 
ter  —  The  Arch  of  Nero  —  The    Temple  of  Forhme--^ 
The  Forum  Baths. 
The  House  of  the   Tragic  Poet— of  Pansa-^  The  Bakery 
and  House  of  Sallust—  The    Compitum    or    Dogana— 
The  Gate  of  Herculajieum—  The  Street  of  the  Tombs-- 
The  House  of  Diomede—  The    City  ivalls. 
The  Street  of  Mercury— The  Houses  of  Adonis— Apollo — 
Meleager—The  Centaur— Castor    and   Pollux— of  the 
Labyrinth— Osteria  degli  Scheletri— The  House  of  the 
Anchor— Fullojiica   Grande—  Mosaic  fountains. 
The  Arch  of  Caligula— The  Macellum—The  Curia  Se- 
natorum—The   Temple  of  Mercury-^ The  Exchange  of 
Eumachia—The  School  of  Verna—The  Courts  of  First 
Instance. 

La   Casa  di  cinque  piani—La   Casa  del  Palestrifa. 

This  excursion  commences  with  the  builuings 
described  in  Chapters  V  and  VI  (pages  77  to 
123)  where  the  description  of  the  Forum  Baths 
is  concluded.  On  leaving  these  we  cross  the 
Strada  delle  Ter  me,   and  enter: 

The  house  of  the  Tragic  Poet  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  viii.  No. 
5)  which  was  excavated  in  1825  and  is  one  of 
the  finest  in  the  city.  A  very  large  number  of 


280 


POMPEII 


ITINERARY 


281 


gold  ornaments  and  a  quantity  of  money  were 
found   in  it.   The  vestibule  contained  on  its  pa- 
vement the  celebrated  black  and   white    mosaic 
representing  a  spirited  watchdog  with  the  legend 
CAVE  CANEM.  <  Beware  of  the  dog.  >  beneath  it, 
and  the  floor  of  the  tablinum  was  decorated  with 
the  famous  mosaic  representing  the  Choragium 
or   «  green  room  >   of  the  ancient  stage  (Naples 
Museum  9986).   The  main  feature  of  the  house, 
from    which  it  derived   its  name  ,    was  a  larcre 
number  of  paintings    taken  from    the    Homeric 
poems,  the  most  important  of  w^hich  are  in  the 
Naples  Museum,  namely,  9105  Achilles  and  Bri- 
seis,   9108   Briseis  embarking  for  Greece,   9559 
The  Marriage  of  Jupiter    and  Juno,  and    91 12 
The  Sacrifice  of  Iphigenia.  All  the  paintings  which 
were  left  in  the  house  have  perished    from  ex- 
posure. 

This  is  called  the  <  House  of  Glaucus  >  in 
Bulwer's  Last  day  of  Pompeii. 

The  house  of  Pansa  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  vi.  No  i,  ex- 
cavated 1 8 14)  is  formed  of  two  houses  originally 
thrown  into  one  in  the  Samnite  period,  and  af- 
terwards enlarged  in  Roman  times  by  Nigidius 
Mams  its  last  proprietor  who  added  a  large  gar- 
den to  it.  It  is  one  of  the  very  few  houses  in 
Pompeii  which  had  a  stable  and  coach-house 
belonging  to  it.   These    open   out  into    the  side 


1 


V 


-%) 


»' 


V* 


»»- 


street.  The  arrangement  of  flower  beds  in  the 
garden  could  be  clearly  seen  when  the  house 
was  first  discovered.  The  whole  block  was  the 
property  of  Maius,  who  let  the  various  shops, 
as  IS  stated  in  an  inscription  long  since  perished 
which  was  as  follows  : 

Insula  Arriana  Polliana  the  property  of  Nigidius  Maius. 
To  be  let  from  the  first  of  July  the  shops  with  their 
sheds  and  stables.  Apply  in  the  first  instance  to  the 
Majordomo  of  Maius. 

The  owner  of  this  house  was  the  man  who 
gave  the  festivities  on  the  occasion  of  the  open- 
ing of  the  Forum  Baths,  and  it  was  a  relation 
of  his  who  presented  the  large  brasier  and  the 
bronze  seats  to  the  same  establishment.  Some 
very  fine  silver  vessels,  and  the  large  bronze 
lamp  with  Bacchus  riding  the  panther,  as  well 
as  the  bronze  group  of  Bacchus  and  Ampelus 
were  found  in  this  house. 

Passing  now  into  the  street  which  leads  to 
the  North  towards  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum  we 
reach  The  House  of  Saliust  {K^^.  vi.  Ins.  ii.  No,  4, 
exc.  1806-9).  This  house  still  contains  some  good 
paintings  of  Paris  and  Helen,  Mars  and  Venus 
Europa,  Phryxus  and  Helle,  Diana  and  Action, 
the  latter  being  the  most  important  and  repre- 
senting the  moment  when  Action  peeped  at  the 


282 


POMPEII 


ITINERARY 


2oo 


bathing  goddess.  He  will  be  observed  in  the 
back-ground  with  the  antlers  already  sproutincr 
from   his  forehead. 

Next  door  but  one  is  a  Bakery. 

On  the  same  side  of  the  way  is  the  Compitum 
(Reg.  VI.  Ins.  i.  No.  1 3).  This  building  is  mis- 
called the  Dogana  or  Custom  House,  on  the  sup- 
position that  a  number  of  w^eights  and  scales 
were  found  in  it.  The  mistake  was  originally 
made  by  Romanelli  ,  and  has  been  copied  by 
most  other  WTiters  ever  since.  The  building  was 
discovered  in  May  1788,  and  one  leaden  weight 
was  found  in  it.  Hence  the  idea  of  its  having 
been  a  Custom  House  may  be  dismissed.  Fio- 
relli  thinks  that  it  w^as  devoted  to  religious 
purposes,  and  that  the  statue  of  some  deity  stood 
on  the  pedestal  in  the  centre.  It  was  closed 
with  an  iron  grating,  and  had  a  stable  behind 
it,  in  which  the  remains  of  a  cart  and  harness 
and  the  skeletons  of  two  horses  were  discovered. 

La  Casa  del  Chirurgo  (H.  of  th$  Surgeon)  (Reg. 
VI.  Ins.  No.  10,  exc.  1770)  is  probably  the  most 
ancient  house  in  the  city.  We  judge  this  from 
the  construction  of  its  fa9ade  which  is  built  of 
massive  stones  without  mortar.  The  atrium  is 
in  the  Tuscan  Style,  and  the  impluvium  is  of 
Nucerine  stone,  and  not  of  marble  as  is  the  case 
in  the  more  modern  dw^ellinors.   It  is  here    that 


▼ . 


most  of  the  surgical  instruments  now  in  the 
Naples  Museum  were  found,  and  it  is  this  which 
gave  rise  to  the  supposition  that  the  house  was 
occupied  by  a  medical  man.  The  most  important 
painting  in  it  was  the  pretty  picture  of  a  lady 
sketching  a  ^erm  of  Bacchus,   now  at  Naples. 

We  now  refer  our  readers    to  page     igS   for 
the  Gate  of  Herculaneum,  to  page    199    for  an 
account  of  the  Street  of  the  Tombs,  and  when 
they  have  visited  these,  to  pages   169  and   196 
for  the  city  walls. 

The  walls  should  first  be  observed  from  the 
outside  by  walking  a  few  yards  along  the  fosse  to 
the  eastward.  The  gate  should  then  be  entered 
and  the  walls  ascended  by  the  steps  on  the  left. 
The  first  buttress  on  the  right  should  be  clim- 
bed to  enjoy  the  view  of  the  ruins ,  and  the 
visitor  should  then  proceed  along  the  top  of  the 
wall  to  the  third  tower,  by  which  means  he  will 
get  a  thoroughly  good  idea  of  the  city  walls. 
He  can  then  return  to  the  first  tower,  and  just 
beyond  it  he  will  find  a  footpath  leading  down 
the  rampart.  In  the  house  on  his  right  he  will 
find  the  way  into  the  wall  mentioned  on  pacre 
197-  He  can  then  follow  the  Vicolo  di  Modesto 
till  he  comes  to  the  first  turning  on  his  left, 
the  Vicolo  di  Mercurio.  Following  this  he  will 
find  the  Strada  di    Mercurio  to  be  the    second 


284 


POMPEII 


cross-street  and  easily  distinguishable  on  account 
of  its  breadth,  and  by  the  fact  that  it  has  one 
of  the  wall-towers  at  its  northern  end,  and  the 
Arch  of  Caligula  at  the  other.  This  is  a  very 
important  street  and  all  the  houses  in  it  merit 
attention.  We  are  now  standing  at  the  crossway 
in  the  centre  of  it.  Turning  our  face  to  the 
'  city  wall  we  shall  take  the  Casa  di  Adone  ferito 
(Reg.  VI.  Ins.  VII.  No.  i8,  exc.  1835)  so  called 
on  account  of  the  fine  life-size  painting  repre- 
senting the  scene  where 

«...  Smooth  Adonis  from   his  native  rock 
Flows  purple  to  the  sea  » 

A  Cupid  is  binding  his  wound,  and  Venus  is 
looking   on  compassionately. 

The  House  of  Apollo  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  vii.  No.  24, 
exc.  1834),  is  also  important.  It  is  next  to  the 
city  walls  on  the  left.  The  waterworks  in  the 
piscina  are  very  peculiar ,  and  the  decoration 
of  the  small  room  in  the  corner  of  the  sunken 
garden  is  interesting.  There  is  also  a  fine  mo- 
saic of  Achilles  seizing  the  arms  from  Ulysses 
in  the  palace  of  Lycomedes.  This  mosaic  is  on 
the  wall,   which  is  rather  unusual. 

Returning  tow^ards  the  town  we  find  on  our 
left  The  House  of  Meleager  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  ix.  No.  2, 


rriNKHAHY 


2^5 


-*.. 


exc.  1829-31)  which  contains  a  handsome  square 
room  with  an  inner  colonnade  decorated  in  two 
shades  of  yellow  and  brown,  which  we  believe 
to  be  unique  in   Pompeii. 

The  House  of  the  Centaur  (Reg.  vi  Ins.  ix.  No.  5) 
and  the  House  of  Castor  and  Pollux  (No.  6  ,  some- 
times called  the  77.  0/  the  Qucestor,  exc.  1828-29) 
deserve  a  visit,  though  their  chief  treasures  have 
all  been   removed. 

This  will  be  a  good  opportunity  to  visit  the 
House  of  the  Labyrinth  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  xi.  10,  exc. 
1835),  a  fine  house  with  a  Corinthian  atrium. 
It  obtained  its  name  from  the  rare  mosaic  of 
Theseus  and  the  Minotaur  surrounded  by  black 
lines  on  a  white  ground  to  represent  the  Cretan 
Labyrinth,  which  mosaic  is  still  in  its  original 
place. 

The  House  of  the  Vettii  is  now  close  by,  and  can 
be  taken  next.  It  is  fully  described  in  Chapter 
XI.  Between  it  and  the  tow^n  wall  are  the  ex- 
cavations of  1897-98  which  are  worth  explor- 
ing though  they  have  not  as  yet  yelded  anything 
of  the  first  importance.  The  portion  of  the  town 
wall  laid  bare  is  very  fine. 

We  return  to  the  Strada  di  Mercurio  ,  and 
visit  the  Osteria  degli  Soheletri  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  x.  No. 
i),  a  wine-shop,  where  are  some  interesting  pain- 
tings in  the  roughest  style,  representing  scenes 


286 


POMPEII 


of  tavern  life  in  ancient  times.  The  first  on  the 
left  represents  a  drinking  scene,  the  second  the 
filling  of  the  amphorae  from  a  large  wine-skin  on 
four  wheels.  The  truck  is  equirotal  and  was  drawn 
by  two  mules  which  are  tied  to  it.  They  were 
harnessed  by  yokes  to  the  pole.  On  the  same 
wall  is  a  girl  handing  a  cup  of  wine  to  a  wag- 
goner with  an  ox-goad  in  his  hand.  Opposite, 
is  a  game  of  draughts  played  with  dice  ,  and 
the  sausages  and  other  eatables  hanging  up  show 
how^  modern  Italian  tavern  life  corresponds  to 
that  of  the   Romans. 

On  the  same  side  of  the  street  is  The  House 
of  the  Anchor  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  x.  No.  7,  exc.  1825), 
so  called  from  the  mosaic  anchor  on  the  door- 
step. This  anchor  is  of  very  clever  construction, 
and  the  ring  on  the  crown  of  it  was  no  doubt 
used  to  bend  a  buoy-rope  to,  or  to  trip  the  an- 
chor in  case  of  a  foul.  The  sunken  garden  of 
this  houie  is  unique  in  Pompeii ,  and  when  its 
pedestals  were  decorated  with  statues  (as  no 
doubt  they  once  w^ere)  it  must  have  been  very 
pretty. 

Opposite  to  it  is  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  viii.  No.  20) 
the  Fullonica  Grande  (exc.  182 5)  but  this  is  not 
as  interesting  as  the  similar  establishment  in  the 
Street  of  Vesuvius  described  on  page   247. 

The  adjoining    houses  Nos.   22.  and  23  con- 


<r^~ 


ITINERARY 


287 


tain  examples  of  mosaic  fountains,  wdiich  though 
rather  vulgar  in  style  deserve  a  visit.  There  are 
some  excellent  paintings  of  fish  in  No.  24,  which 
appears  to  have  been  the  guest-house  of  No.  23, 
and  opens  into  it. 

We  now  reach  the  Arch  of  Caligula  described 
on  page   123. 

The  Third  Excursion  begins  at  this  point 
with  the  House  of  the  Faun   (see  page   296). 

Returning  to  the  Forum  we  may  visit  the 
Macellum  Curiae,  Temple  of  Mercury,  Exchange 
of  Eumachia  and  School  of  Verna  (pages  124 
to   130). 

We  shall  now  find  ourselves  at  the  corner  of 
the  Street  of  Abundance  where  the  Second  Ex- 
cuRsiox  will  begin.  If  the  reader  desires  to  at- 
tempt this  in  the  same  day,  he  should  break 
off  here.  If  not,  the  first  excursion  may  be  con- 
cluded by  going  down  the  small  street  at  the 
S.  E.  angle  of  the  Forum  and  following  it  till 
it  turns  sharply  to  the  left. 

Here  is  the  Casa  di  cinque  Piani,int  an  erestinp^ 
house  with  a  deep  basement,  at  the  bottom  of 
which  is  a  bath  decorated  with  caricatures. 
^  The  Casa  del  Palestrila  is  next  door  but  one  to 
it  and  w^as  a  house  occupied  by  a  patron  of  the 
prize-ring.  On  the  threshold  is  a  mosaic  of  two 
w  restlers,  and  the  Atrium  is  decorated  with  gla- 


288 


POMPEII 


diatorial  paintings  in  excellent  preservation.  These 
represent  an  Athlete  using  the  strigil,  two  men 
struggling  on  the  ground,  and  an  important 
group  of  Fame  blowing  a  trumpet,  and  Victory 
presenting  a  victorious  gladiator  to  the  audience. 
If  the  visitor  has  more  time  at  his  disposal 
he  will  find  much  that  is  interesting  in  the  re- 
maining houses  in  this  street;  all  of  which  have 
deep  basements,  which  seem  to  have  been  en- 
croachments on  the  fortifications. 

The  End  of  the  First  Fxcursion. 


fi***  9 


r. 


^       S    K^ 


^       <- 


"Ml 


ITINERARY 


289 


SECOND  EXCURSION: 

The  southern  side  of  the  city, 

AMPHITHEATRE    AND    WALLS. 

T/ie  Street  of  Abtmdance^  The  House  of  the  Wild  Boar^ 
The  House  of  the  Spade^The  House  of  the  Skeleton-^ 
The  House  of  Holconius^  The  House  of  Giuseppe  //. 

Ihe  Triangular  Forum^The  Portico  of  VinictMs— The 
Temple  of  Hercules^  The  Ludus  Gladiatorius^  The 
Theatres--  TJie  Teiupie  of  ^sculapius  —  The  Stabian 
Baths. 

The  House  of  Cornelius  Ruftis  —  The  House  of  the  Dia- 
dumeni. 

The  House  of  the  Sandals  —  The  House  of  the  Citarista  — 
The  House  of  the  Tan7iers—The  Ho^cse  of  the  Gratings 
The  Gate  of  Stabice. 

The  Amphitheatre-^  The  Gate  of  Nola^  The   City  Walls. 

This  Excursion  commences  at  the  point  where 
the  Street  of  Abundance  starts  from  the  S.  E. 
corner  of  the  Greater  Forum.  Proceeding  in  an 
easterly  direction  down  the  street,  we  notice  on  the 
right  La  Casa  del  Cinghiale  (Regio  vhl  Ins.  in  No.  2, 
exc.  1837),  so  called  from  the  mosaic  of  a  boar- 
hunt  on  the  threshold  .The  pavement  of  the  Atrium 
and  the  adjoining  rooms  is   worth  glancing  at. 

On  the  same  side  of  the  street,  a  little  lower 
down,  is  a  house  recently  found  and  not  yet 
named.  The  Guides  would  probably  be  able  to 

19 


290 


POMPEII 


indicate  it  under  the  name  of  <c  Casa  della  Zappa  > 
(Reg.  VIII.  Ins.  xii.  No.  28)  which  we  will  ven- 
ture to  give  it  on  speculation.  It  is  especially 
remarkable  because  it  was  in  course  of  repair  at 
the  time  of  the  destruction,  and  the  mortar  heap 
with  a  <  zappa  >  or  spade  fixed  in  it  stands  in  the 
centre  of  the  floor  just  as  the  bricklayer  s  labourer 
left  it  more  than  eighteen-hundred  years  ago. 

La  Casa  dello  Scheletro  (Reg.  vii.  Ins.  ix.  No.  9) 
is  on  the  other  side  of  the  street,  and  has  noth- 
ing remarkable  about  it  except  the  skeleton  of 
a  woman,  lying,  as  found  ,  in  the  corner  of  a 
room  which  opens  upon  the  garden. 

Opposite    to   this    is  the  Casa  di  Olconio  (Reg. 
VII,.   Ins.  IV.  No.   4  exc.  1861)  which  though  in- 
ferior to  many  of  the  show  houses  of  the  city  is 
interesting  on  account  of  its  marble  statuette  and 
cascade.  Holconius  was  a  benefactor  to  the  Greater 
Theatre,   and  a  man  of  importance  in  the  city. 
La  Casa  di  Giuseppe  II  (Regio  viii.  Ins.    11.    No. 
39,  exc.    1767-69,  then  covered   up;   again  exc. 
i8k85-86)  ,  is  upon  the  city  walls  at  the  western 
angle  of  the  Triangular  Forum,   and    though  it 
is  a  little  out  of  the  way  it  deserves  a  visit  on 
account  of  the  very  unusual  character  of  its  con- 
struction. It  has  two  floors  below  the  one  which 
w^e  enter  from  the  city  side.  The  staircase  leads 
to  an  important  terrace    on  the  first    basement 


I 


I     ^ 


i-*--* 


/ 


ITINERARY 


291 


floor,  from  which  again  an  inclined  plane  leads 
down  to  the  ground  level  outside  the  city  walls. 
Here  there  was  an  exit  to  the  country  and  a 
well-arranged  private  bathing  establishment. 

The  Triangular  Forum  (p.  1 32) — Portico  of  Vinicius 
(p.  134) — The  Temple  of  Hercules  (p.  135) — 
The  Ludus  Gladiatorius  (p.  139) — The  Theatres 
(p.  142  to  149) — The  Temple  of  Isis  (p.  149) — 
The  so-called  Temple  of  yEsculapius  (p.  153) 
and  the  Stabian  Baths  (p.  164)  make  up  the 
second  group  of  public  buildings  fully  described 
in  Chapter  VII. 

We  may  now  take  La  Casa  di  Corneiio  Rufo  (Reg. 
VIII.  Ins.  IV.  No.  14  exc.  1861)  which  is  directly 
opposite  to  the  Stabian  Baths.  Here  we  see  in 
the  Atrium  the  very  fine  marble  supports  of  his 
table.  It  is  strange  that  the  slab  of  the  table  should 
be  wanting ,  and  this  can  only  be  accounted 
for  on  the  supposition  that  it  had  been  broken 
(perhaps  in  the  63  earthquake)  and  never  replaced. 

La  Casa  dei  Diadumeni  (1866)  is  on  the  opposite 
side  of  the  Street  of  Stabia,  No.  20  in  the  Strada 
dei  Diadumeni.  The  causeway  in  front  of  this 
house  is  very  remarkable,  and  the  Lararium  is 
of  unusual  form.  The  inscription  beneath  it  gave 
the  name  to  the  house: 

GENIO  .  M .  N .  ET  .  LARIBUS .  DVO  .  DIADVMENI .  LIBERTI . 


292 


POMPEII 


The  two  freedmen    Diadumeni  to    the    genius  of  our 
Marcus  and  his  household  gods. 

Next  door  to  the  House  of  the  Diadumeni  is 
No.   22;  a  house  not  yet  named,   but  which  we 
will  call  La  Casa  dei  Sandah'  because  a  pair  of  hob- 
nailed sandals  was  found  on   the    steps  of    the 
Atrium.  The  rust  from  the  nails  has  permanently 
stained  the  marble.   No  doubt  such  shoes  would 
injure  the  delicate  mosaic  of  the  floors,  and  were 
exchanged    for    slippers  in  the    house,   but  the 
fact  that  they  stood  in  readiness  in  the  Atrium 
is  a  further    proof    that  the    destruction  of  the 
city  took  place  in  the   winter.   The  Lararium  of 
this  house  is  in  character  similar  but    in  detail 
different  from  that  of  the  house  next  door. 

Proceeding  now  towards  the  Gate  of  Stabi^ 
we  have  on  our  left. 

La  Gasa  del  Citarisla,  (Reg.  i.  Ins.  iv.  No.  5,  exc. 
1863)  called  after  the  charming  Archaistic  bronze 
of  Apollo  in  the  Naples  Museum.  This  was  a 
very  fine  house,  with  its  baths  and  spacious 
apartments  beautifully  painted.  Some  of  the  cele- 
brated pictures  came  from  hence ,  namely  ; 
Bacchus  and  Ariadne,  and  Orestes  and  Pylades 
before  Thoas,  and  there  is  a  nice  little  painting 
at  the    further    end    of  the    house,   where    also 


ITINERARY 


293 


1» 


■^■'4 

;_,? 

> 

It 

\ 

^t         **■ 

' 

^  '    i*( 

':<■'■.:: 

«-) 


were  some  well-executed  brcnze  animals  which 
served  for  fountains.   But  the  great  finds  of  the 
house  were  the  two  heads  of  Brutus  and  Pom- 
pey,  now    in  the    gallery  of  the    Masterpieces. 
These  were  found  in  a  loft  over  the  stable,  and 
It  IS  difficult  to  assign  a  reason  for  their  com- 
mittal to  so  ignoble  a  place  by  a  man  of  such 
excellent  taste  in  art  as  Popidius  the  owner  of 
this  house  must    have  been  ,  unless    indeed  he 
was  actuated  by  political  motives,  and  thought 
that  the  great  rival  of  Ca;sar  and  his  treache- 
rous assassin  had  no  right  to  places  in  the  house 
of  a  loyal  subjecc.  The   house    is  of    enormous 
extent,  and  had  evidently  been  much  added  to 
by  its  last  owner.  Some  of  the  rooms  are  very 
large,  one  of  them    measuring  36    ft  by  24  ft 
and  another  28  ft  by  24  ft.   The  house  had  its 
private   baths,  and    an    important    guest-house 
which  opens  into  the  Strada  dei  Diadumeni. 

The  Officina  Coriariorum  or  House  of  the  Tanners 
(Reg.  1.   Ins.  v.)  is  near  the    Gate    of   Stabise, 
and  though  we  mentioned  it  in  the  last  chapter,' 
we  may  add  that  it  shows  signs  of  having  suf- 
fered considerable  damage  in  the  63  a.  d.  earth- 
quake, as  the  pillars  of  the  atrium  were  rebuilt 
in  the  latest  Pompeian  style,  though  the  remains 
of  the  more  ancient  tufa  pillars  are  still  visible. 
The  owner  must  have  been  a  wealthy  man,  and 


294 


POMPEII 


evidently  inhabited  the  house  No.  28  directly 
opposite  to  the  Tannery.  This  is  clear  from  the 
bridge  made  across  the  street  from  the  one  to 
the  other.  The  dwelling-house  has  the  great 
peculiarity  of  an  iron  grating  over  the  complu- 
vium,  showing  probably  that  the  owner  of  the 
house  kept  a  good  deal  of  money  there  for  the 
purposes  of  his  business,  and  that  as  the  situa- 
tion was  a  lonely  one  ,  he  deemed  it  wise  to 
secure  himself  against  burglars.  The  existing 
grating  is  of  course  modern  ,  and  copied  from 
the  ancient  one. 

We  may  now  proceed  to  the  very  interesting 
Gale  of  StabiaB  (p.  172)  and  after  this,  up  the 
Strada  Stabiana  as  far  as  the  third  turn  on  our 
right,  which  will  lead  us  in  ten  minutes  walk 
across  the  fields  to  the  Amphitheatre  (p.  180). 
Hence  the  enthusiastic  archaeologist  will  visit 
the  Porta  Nolana  (page  193)  and  observe  the 
walls  and  towers  of  the  city  all  the  way  round 
to  the  Gate  of  Herculaneum  (p.  igS).  After  this 
point  the  walls  are  inaccessible  from  the  outside, 
but  they  can  be  seen  from  some  of  the  houses 
on  the  right  of  the  street  which  leads  to  the  Sea 
Gate  by  which  we  return  to  the  railway  station . 

The  end  of  the  Second  Excursion 


I 


ife'i-ai 


P 


f)  ^\ 


ITINERARY 


295 


THIRD  EXCURSION 

THE    CENTRE    OF   THE   CITY 

Strada  della  Fortuna :  —  Casa  del  Fauna  (House  of  the 
Faun)  — C«ja  della  Parete  Nera  (H.  of  the  Black 
Wall)— a^«  del  Capitelli  Figiirati  (H.  of  the  Carved 
Capitals)— Gija  di  Arianna  (^H.  of  Ariadne)— Ca^a 
della   Caccia  (H.  of  the  Chase). 

Strada  del  Vesuvio.-^Casa  di  Otfeo  (H.  of  Orpheus)— 
Fjillonica  (H.  of  the  ¥xi\\Qrs)—For?to  (Bakery)— Ca^a 
di  Cecilio  Giocondo  (H.  of  Jucundus). 

Strada  di  Nola:^Bagni  Niiovi  {^ew  Baths)  — C^j^  della 
Regina  Margherita  (H.  of  Queen  Margaret)  Casa  del 
Canile  (H.  of  the  Dog-Kennel)  — Ca^^  del  Vomitorio 
(H.  of  the  Vomitorium)  Casa  del  Centenario-^{H,  of  ihe 
Centenary j^Scavi  Ntwvi  1892  (New  excavations  1892.) 

Strada  di  Stadia:  —  Casa  di  Lucres io  {H.  of  Lucretius)— 
Casa  di  Paquio  Proculo  (H.  of  Proculus). 

In  the  centre  of  the  town:-^Casa  delt Orso  (H.  of  the 
"^eax)-^  Casa  del  Balcone  Pensile  (H.  of  the  Balcony)— 
Fullonica  Piccola  (Small  Fullers  Shop)— Ca^a  ^/5/m(7 
(H.  of  Siricus)  ^Casa  dello  Specchio  (H.  of  the  Mirror). 

This  excursion  consists  entirely  of  houses  and 
shops,  the  only  public  building  included  in  it 
being  the  new  baths  in  the  Street  of  Nola,  which 
were  in  course  of  construction  at  the  time  of 
the  destruction  of  the  city.* 

*  In  case  of  the  reader  desiring  to  unite  this  excur- 
sion with  the  first,  he  should  break  off  after    the  Arch 


296 


POMPEII 


Th  house  of  the  Faun  (Reg.  vi.  Ins.  xii.  ,  exc. 
1830-32)  is  always  considered  the  principal  house 
in  Pompeii,  and  must  certainly  have  been  the 
residence  of  a  wealthy  citizen.  The  pavement  in 
front  of  it  bore  the  salutation  «  have  »  *  in  mo- 
saic letters,  and  the  house  contained  some  of 
the  finest  art  treasures  which  have  been  found 
in  the  city.  Together  with  its  adjoining  guest- 
house, and  the  large  garden  at  the  back,  it  oc- 
cupies an  entire  block  of  the  city.  It  seems 
probable  that  the  name  of  its  owner  was  Cas- 
sius,  and  some  writers  have  hazarded  the  con- 
jecture that  he  was  a  wine  merchant  ,  for  the 
insufficient  reason  that  a  very  large  number  of 
amphorae  were  found  against  the  wall  in  the 
garden.  These  had  been  filled  with  wine  the 
remains  of  which  were  analysed  by  Professor 
Call,  who  states  that  it  was  of  that  year's  growth, 
showing  that  the  destruction  of  the  city  occurred 
after  the  vintage  was  gathered. 

The  Ostium  of  the  house  has  a  particoloured 

of  Caliguki,  and  go  to  the  Casa  del  Fauno  :  if  he  desires 
to  join  it  to  the  second  excursion,  he  should  abandon 
the  latter  part  of  the  second  excursion  and  go  from  the 
House  of  the  Diadumeni,  to  the  Casa  dello  Specchio,  and 
take  the  third  excursion  in  the  reverse  order. 

*  In  a  better  period  this  word   would  have  been  writ- 
ten  €  AVE  >*.  It  signifies   «  Hail  »  !. 


ITINERARY 


297 


^{ 


I 


—I 


*^ 


1 


marble  pavement,  and  a  miniature  Corinthian 
portico  about  ten  feet  from  the  ground.  The 
Atrium  was  of  the  Tuscan  style  with  a  marble 
impluvium  ,  in  the  centre  of  which  stood  the 
Dancing  Faun  which  gave  its  name  to  the 
house.  Beyond  this  was  the  tablinum  with  the 
mosaic  of  masks  and  festoons,  and  the  life-size 
mosaic  of  fish.  The  room  on  the  left  was  paved 
with  the  rare  mosaic  of  Bacchus  (or  rather 
Acratus)  on  a  panther;  the  ala  on  the  right  had 
the  mosaic  of  a  cat  killing  a  chicken,  and  the 
ala  on  the  left  still  has  a  pretty  mosaic  of  doves 
drawing  a  necklace  out  of  a  half-closed  dressino-- 

o 

case.    The    exhedra    of  the    peristyle    (a    room 
answering  to  the   tablinum   of  the   atrium)    had 
for  its   threshold   the    Nile    mosaic,    and    for   its 
pavement  the  magnificent  mosaic   of  the   battle 
of    Issus.    Behind   this   again   was   the   spacious 
garden   surrounded  by  a  cloister  with  a  prome- 
nade on  the  top  of  it,    to    which    access    was 
obtained  from  the  Lararium  at  the  end  of  the 
garden.    Several     skeletons   were    found    in  this 
house,   amongst  them    that    of   a    woman    upon 
whose    finger   was    a    ring    inscribed    «  Cassia  > 
showing  probably  that  she  was  the  wife  of  Cas- 
sius  wdiose  name  is  found  written  on  one  of  the 
columns  of  the  garden,  and  who  was,  as  we  have 
already  said,  probal)ly  the  owner  of  the  mansion. 


298 


POMPEII 


ITINERARY 


299 


A  very  important  inscription    was    found    in 
Oscan  letters  on  the  wall  at  the  corner,  outside 
the    house,   stating  that  the  inhabitants   of  this 
quarter  were  to  garrison  that  portion  of  the  city 
wall  which  lay  between  the  tenth  and  the  elev- 
enth towers,  where    Titus    Fisianus    the    son   of 
Oppius  was  in  command.   Two   similar    inscrip- 
tions relating  to  that  part  of  the  wall  which  lay 
between  the  twelfth  tower  and  the  Gate  of  Sar- 
nus  where  Marius  Adirius  the  son  of  Vibius  was 
in  command,  have  also  been  discovered  in  other 
parts  of  the  town.   (See  Fiorelli  pages  83,  103, 
and   153).  These  inscriptions  were  painted  upon 
the   original   stonework   of  the   wall,    and   were 
covered  over  by  the  Roman  plaster  of  the  later 
period.  They  were  all  written  in  the  Oscan  lan- 
guage, and   give   us   the   name   of  the   Gate   of 
Sarnus,  and  show  that  it  was  near  the  twelfth 
tower.  No  doubt  if  we  are  fortunate   enough  to 
pull  down  the  Roman  plaster  in  the  right  places, 
we  shall  some  day  find  other  similar  inscriptions 
which  will  give  us  the  whole  military  topography 
of  the  city  in  the  Samnite  period. 

La  Casa  della  Parete  Nera  (Reg.  vii.  Ins.  iv.  No.  69, 
exc.  1833)  IS  directly  opposite  the  H.  of  the 
Faun,  and  contains  some  good  arabesques  on  a 
black  ground  ,  some  paintings  of  Cupids ,  and 
interesting  mosaic  floors. 


^1  J 


<- 


r^^i 


t 


The  elaborate  capitals  of  the  Casa  dei  capitelli 
figurati ,  next  door  but  one ,  No.  5  7 ,  can  be 
observed  without  leaving  the  street. 

La  Casa  del  Granduca  di  Toscana  (Reg.  vii.  Ins.  iv. 
No.  56,  exc.  1833)  has  a  small  mosaic  fountain 
which  is  often  spoken  of  in  the  older  books; 
but  is  of  minor  importance  now  that  so  many 
better  ones  have  been  discovered. 

It  will  interest  some  of  our  readers  to  know  that  in 
1892  a  fox  and  a  litter  of  cubs  were  found  in  this  house. 

La  Casa  di  Arianna  (Reg.  vii.  Ins.  iv.  No.  Si, 
official  reference  number  31,  the  house  having 
its  front  entrance  in  the  Strada  degli  Augustali, 
exc.  1833-35)  is  a  very  fine  house,  too  seldom 
visited.  We  enter  from  the  Strada  della  For- 
tuna  by  its  back  door,  and  find  ourselves  in  the 
peristyle,  where  the  brick  edging  of  the  flower- 
bed (unique  in  Pompeii)  may  be  observed.  There 
is  a  fine  mosaic  in  the  further  room  on  the  right 
of  the  peristyle.  This  room  is  twelve  feet  square, 
the  one  next  to  it  being  twenty-four  feet  square, 
and  the  large  apartment  with  an  apse  opposite 
to  it,  is  thirty-three  feet  by  eighteen. 

La  Casa  della  caccia  (Reg.  vii.  Ins.  iv.  No.  48, 
eve.  1835)  forms  the  corner  of  the  Vico  Storto, 
and  contains  a  large  picture  of  a  hunting  scene, 
in  a  hilly  country.  A  wounded  wild  boar  seized 


300 


POMPEII 


ITINERARY 


301 


'.^ 


by  a  dog,  a  bull  ripping  up  a  leopard  and  chased 
by  a  lion,  a  bear  on  his  back  and  another  dash- 
ing upon  him;  sportsmen,  stags,  and  other  ac- 
cessories fill  up  the  picture. 

Proceeding  eastwards  along  the  Strada  della 
Fortuna  we  reach  the  important  cross-way  where 
the  Strada  di  Stabia,  and  the  Strada  del  Vesu- 
vio  meet  those  of  Fortuna  and  Nola.  Here  is  a 
fountain  w^ith  a  basrelief  of  Silenus  upon  its 
cippus. 

We  now  turn  to  our  left,  and  visit  La  Casa  di  Orfeo 

(Reg.  VI.  Ins.  xiv.  Vo  20,  exc.  1874)  where  is 
a  bust  of  Vesonius  Primus,  and  a  fine  painting 
of  Orpheus  charming  the  beasts  with  his  lyre. 
It  is  in  this  house  that  the  dog  was  discovered 
of  which  we  have  noticed  the  plaster  cast  in 
the  local   Museum. 

Next  door  is  the  Fullonica  fully  described  on 
page  247,  and  at  the  present  end  of  the  street, 
on  the  left,  an  important  Bakery  with  stable 
attached  to  it,  and  the  only  perfect  mill  in  Pompeii. 
This  has  a  metal  trench  about  two  feet  from 
the  ground,  to  catch  the  flour  as  it  came  from 
the  hopper  above. 

On  our  way  back  to  the  Strada  di  Nola  we 
may  visit  the  House  of  Caecilius  Jucundus  the  Usurer 
(1875),  which  is  directly  opposite  the  Fullonica 
and  on  our  present  left.   The  basrelief  on  the 


V\\ 


\1 


Lararium  is  particularly  important,  as  the  front 
face  of  it  seems  to  represent  the  63  a.  d.  earth- 
quake, destroying  a  Temple. 

We  now  cross  the  Strada  di  Nola  and  arrive 
at  the  Terme  Nuove  (Reg.  ix,  Ins.  vi.,  exc.  1877) 
an  establishment  of  baths  incomplete  at  the 
time  of  the  estruction,  but  intended  to  be  of 
far  greater  magnificence  than  anything  till  then 
attempted  at  Pompeii. 

These  baths  though  seldom  visited,  deserve 
careful  study.  The  eastern  side  of  them  is  in 
the  main  complete,  and  though  the  furnaces  had 
not  yet  been  put  in,  we  can  quite  well  see  where 
the  architect  designed  to  place  them.  The  pa- 
laestra was  actually  in  course  of  being  laid  out 
at  the  time  of  the  catastrophe,  and  though  part 
of  the  decoration  of  the  halls  had  been  put  up, 
and  was  found  among  the  ruins,  there  is  none 
of  it  now  to  be  seen  upon  the  walls. 

On  entering  the  baths  from  the  Strada  di 
Nola  turn  to  the  left,  and  pass  into  a  small  court 
with  five  chambers  round  it.  It  is  customary  to 
write  that  no  conjecture  can  safely  be  made  as 
to  the  use  to  which  these  rooms  were  put,  and 
it  would  be  presumptuous  in  us  to  speak  when 
the  great  authorities  are  silent.  We  may  suggest 
however,  that  both  the  other  bathing  estabish- 
ments  had  one  room  in  a  similar  position,   and 


aMIif^h.il.iaj)'"^--''*----*"'-'^ — ^...■.«^-.-i..«.-W.ic.ji> 


302 


POMPEir 


ITINERARY 


303 


considering  the  scale  of  these  baths  there  would 
seem  nothing  extraordinary  in  their  having  five. 
Of  these  one  might  well  be  a  Thermopolium  or 
refreshment  room,  one  a  shop  for  shaving  and 
hair-cutting  for  gentlemen,  while  the  three  on  the 
left,  being  more  shut  off,  might  well  have  been 
for  the  use  of  ladies,  who  however  much  they 
might  bathe  in  common  with  the  sterner  sex, 
would  certainly  not  admit  them  to  a  view  of 
the  mysteries  connected  with  their  personal 
adornment. 

Passing  through  these  rooms  into  the  area  at 
the  back  we  may  see  the  outflow  of  the  large 
bath,  and  the  square  vat  behind  it  in  which  the 
effluent  water  was  collected  before  it  ran  off 
down  the  gutter.  As  the  bath  had  in  all  proba- 
bility a  stream  of  water  running  constantly 
through  it  perhaps  this  vat  was  intended  for 
rinsing  out  the  linen  used  in  the  establisment, 
which  would  subsequently  be  hung  out  near 
the  furnaces  if  rain   chanced   to  be  falling. 

The  arrangements  actual  and  prospective  of 
the  baths  can  be  readily  seen  by  walking  through 
them,  and  comparing  them  with  those  of  the 
Stabian  and  Forum  Baths. 

If  the  ladies'  department  was  intended  to  be 
in  the  small  range  of  buildings  at  the  southern 
end  of  the  palaestra  they   were   certainly    very 


<» 


*'    *i 


badly  treated,  but  as  we  have  stated  it  seems 
probable  that  the  fashion  of  promiscuous  bath- 
ing may  have  been  already  prevalent. 

Nearly  opposite  to  these  baths  in  the  Strada 
di  Nola  is  La  Casa  della  Regina  Margherita  (Reg.  x. 
No.  i),  excavated  (1889)  before  Her  Majesty  the 
Queen  of  Italy.  In  it  will  be  seen  some  very  fine 
decoration,  and  an  especially  notable  picture  of 
Narcissus  bathing  with  ny^iphs  and  Cupids.  His 
reflection  appears  in  the  water  below,  but  con- 
trary to  the  tradition* of  these  pictures  he  is 
not  looking  at  it. 

Almost  directly  behind  the  Casa  della  Regina 
Margherita  is  a  house  discovered  in  1892,  which 
will  probably  be  called  «  Casa  del  Coccodrilio  »,  be- 
cause two  terra-cotta  crocodiles  were  found  in  it. 

It  is  quite  the  most  remarkable  house  re- 
cently found;  its  decorations  are  fine,  and  its 
pavement  unique.  The  closet  of  the  house  has 
a  brick  drain,  which  was  flushed  with  water  after 
the  modern  fashion. 

We  now  cross  the  Street  of  Nola  again,  and 
find  Casa  del  Canlle  (Reg.  ix.  Ins.  v.  No.  2)  a 
house  with  a  dog-kennel  in  the  atrium,  and  a  very 
good  painting  of  Thetis  and  Vulcan  in  the  Ala. 

No.  4  is  a  Bakery,  and  No.  11  a  house 
known  as  the  Casa  del  Vomitorio,  on  account  of  the 
trench  round  the  out-door  triclinium  in  the  gar- 


no  4 


POMPEII 


den.  This  trench  was  no  doubt  made  to  carry 
off  the  rain  water  which  fell  upon  the  couches, 
but  the  name  w^as  given  to  the  house  because 
it  was  thought  to  be  designed  for  the  disgusting 
Roman  practice  of  vomiting  after  meals.  The 
small  room  on  the  right  of  the  Tablinum  is 
decorated  with  pictures  of  the  Nine  Muses  with 
their  attributes. 

La  Casa  del  Centenario  (Regio  ix)  was  excavated 
in  1897  on  the  occasion  of  the  eighteenth  cente- 
nary of  the  destruction  Tof  the  city,  and  proved 
to  be  one  of  the  finest  houses  recently  found. 
In  the  centre  of  the  peristyle  was  a  fishpond 
over  which  stood  a  fine  bronze  statuette  of  a 
drunken  faun  holding  a  wine-skin,  now  in  the 
Naples  Museum.  Round  the  peristyle  are  fine 
rooms,  one  of  which  has  black  walls  with  charming 
designs,  another  white  walls  with  light  and  ele- 
gant decoration  (the  picture  of  dwarfs  walking 
on  stilts  and  gathering  grapes  is  particularly 
interesting).  A  guest-house  and  private  bathing 
arrangement  adjoin  it,  and  at  the  southern  end 
of  the  peristyle  is  a  large  exhedra  painted  to 
represent  an   aquarium. 

The  house  which  had  been  a  good  deal  modified 
and  extended  since  it  was  originally  built,  is  a  most 
interesting  house  to  study.  Next  to  the  implu- 
vium   is  a  stairway  down  to  the  cellar,  the  only 


ITINERARY 


305 


I 


instance  of  such  a  passage  leading  into  the 
atrium.  Little  of  value  was  found  in  this  fine 
mansion,  which  leads  us  to  infer  that  the  Romans 
ransacked  it  in  ancient  times.  The  house  contains 
a  room  to  which  gentlemen   only  are  admitted. 

On  leaving  the  Casa  del  Centenario  the  visitor 
should  see  the  1892  exavations  which  are  to 
the  eastward  of  it,  and  this  will  be  a  conve- 
nient point  from  which  to  diverge  to  the  Gate 
of  Nola  (page  193)  unles  it  was  visited  in  the 
second  excursion,  after  seeing  the  Amphitheatre. 

We  now  proceed  to  the  Casa  di  Lucrezio  (Reg. 
IX.  Ins.  III.  No  3,  exc.  1847)  in  the  Street  of 
Stabia,  where  the  marble  waterworks  are  par- 
ticulary  interesting,  and  in  the  triclinium  is  a 
fine  painting  of  the  triumph  of  Bacchus.  This 
house  obtained  its  name  from  a  picture  of  a 
two-fold  tablet ,  a  knife ,  a  pen  ,  and  a  folded 
letter  grouped  on  the  southern  wall  of  the  clois- 
ter.  On  the  letter  was  the  inscription 

M    LVCRIITIO    FLAM    MARTIS    DECVRI 
POMPEII  ONI 

To  Marcus  Lucretius,  priest  of  Mars,  (and)  Decurion, 
Pompeii. 

The  Bakery  of  Paquius  Proculus  is  opposite  to  the 
H.  of  Lucretius,  and  is  interesting  because  it  was 
here  that  the  loaves  now  in  the  Naples  Museum 

30 


'M)C 


POMPl'II 


nF\i<:iiAHY 


:{o: 


were  discovered,  and  also  because  we  have  in 
the  Museum  a  portrait  of  Proculus  and  his  wife 
nearly  life  size  ,  the  only  certain  instance  of  a 
portrait  found  on  the  walls  of  the  city. 

We  will  now  pass  up  the  Strade  degli  Augustali, 
in  the  centre  of  the  town.  Here  we  find  La  Casa 
deirOrso  Reg.  vii.  Ins.  ii.  No.  48)  with  a  bear 
in  mosaic*  on  the  threshold.  Proceeding  up  the 
next  lane,  we  reach  La  Casa  del  Balcone  Pensile  (Reg. 
VII.  Ins.  XII  Xc.  28)  a  small  house  important  only 
for  its  over-hanging  balcony,  which  has  been 
wonderfully  restored  at  great  trouble  and  expense, 
and  is  unique  in  the  town. 

Returning  down  this  street  w^e  may  visit  a 
small  Fullonica  at  the  corner,  which  is  interesting 
because  it  contains  the  original  wash-tubs,  which 
are  no  longer  tobe  seen  in  the  larger  establishments. 

Within  a  few  yards  we  shall  find  on  our  left 
La  Casa  di  Sirico  (Reg.  vii.  Ins.  i.  No.  47  exc.  1861). 
This  is  in  reality  the  back  door  of  the  house, 
and  on  the  wall  opposite  to  it  is  a  painting  of 
the  sacred  serpents,  with  the  warning  to  idlers 
which  we  mentioned  in  the  preceding  chapter.  It 
appears  that  this  was  the  business  part  of  the 
house,  through  what  the  busines  transacted  by 
Siricus  was,  we  cannot  say.  On  his  threshold  in 
mosaic  letters  are  the  words. 

SALVE  LVCRU  fmj  Good  luck  to  profits. 


I  J' 


,1 


^l 

■ 


S*   '^'-,'  '^   ,,'• 


Many  able  writers  think  tiiat  tlie  deficiency 
of  the  M  at  the  end  of  the  inscription ,  a  defi- 
ciency which  occurs  elsewhere  in  the  common 
expression  Cave  malum  often  written  Cave  malu 
on  the  Pompeian  walls,  shows  that  like  the  modern 
Neapolitans,  the  Romans  of  South  Italy  used 
to  clip  their  words. 

In  the  room  on  the  left  are  some  nice  paintings 
of  Hercules  drunk  and  teased  by  Cupids;  Thetis 
presenting  armour  to  Achilles,   and    pictures  of 
Neptune  and  Apollo  presiding  over  the  building 
of  the  walls  of  Troy  (Hom.  II.  VII-452).  Passing 
through  the  house  we  observe  a  handsome  table- 
support  in  the  atrium  ,  and    going   out   by   the 
front  door  into  the   Strada   Stabiana  ,    we   may 
take  the  Via  Tertia  which   leads    us    past    the 
Casa  della  Pantera  to  the  Casa  dello  Specchio,  where 
we  shall  see  a  piece  of   dark    purple  glass    let 
into  the  wall  evidently  for  the  purpose  of  being 
used  as  a  mirror.  This  is  particularly  remarkable*^ 
because  silver  and  not  glass  was  generally  used 
in  ancient  times  for  reflecting  purposes,  and  we 
believe  that  this  in  the  only  instance  in  antiquity 
of  a  glass  mirror. 

The  end  of  the  third  Eitcursion. 

The  above  three  excursions  form  a  fairly  ex- 
haustive survey  of  Pompeii,  and  include  every- 


.308 


POMPEII 


thing  of  primary  importance  in  the  city.  Should 
the  reader  only  have  one  day  at  his  disposal 
he  will  be  able  by  studying  the  itinerary  given 
above,  and  comparing  it  with  the  map,  to  mark 
off  for  himself  as  many  of  the  principal  items 
as  he  can  get  into  a  day's  walk.  In  such  a  case 
the  Amphitheatre  should  not  be  attempted,  and 
that  part  of  the  city  lying  near  the  Stabian  Gate 
may  also  be  omitted.  The  Forum  baths ,  the 
Unfinished  baths,  and  the  houses  of  minor  im- 
portance may  also  be  dispensed  with,  and  though 
the  Street  of  the  Tombs  and  the  House  of  Dio- 
mede  are  among  the  the  most  interesting  things 
in  Pompeii  they  are  a  long  way  off,  and  when 
the  visit  has  to  be  compressed  into  a  single  day, 
a  good  deal  of  fatigue  may  be  avoided  by  exclud- 
ing them. 

Those  who  have  more  than  three  days  to 
devote  to  the  city  ,  wmU  find  the  subject  quite 
inexhaustible,  and  we  hope  that  this  little  book 
may  prove  a  useful  introduction  to  the  study  of  one 
of  the  most  wonderful  survivals  of  ancient  times. 


» 

i 


,*^ 


THE    END 


^^  Vedi.  al.  lerfio  ia.  coiuuuiii'iiQiifc  , 


INDEX 


Aedile 53 

Alae 62 

Amphitheatre 180 

Amatory  Elegiac 236 

Arch  of  Nero 116 

»         Caligula 123 

Architecture 58 

Atria 61 

Augusteum 124 

Authorities 56 

Bakeries 253,  305 

Barbers 243 

Basilica 105 

Baths  of  the  Forum.  ...  118 

»     Salt 209 

»     Stabian ,54 

»     New 301 

Bisellium 214 

Blue  Amphora 206 

Boots 258 

Bronzes 66 

Bulla 53 

Carpenters 32,  242 

Casa  {See  House) 

Casts  of  Bodies.    .....  89 

Ceiling 218 

Cerotaph 213 

Children 47 

Coachmen 252 

Colours 71 

Coming  of  age 53 

Compitum 282 

Congius 233 

Corn  hall 113 

Curia  Senatorum 126 


Dates,  System  of.    ...    .  231 

Date  of  destruction.    ...  il 

Duumviri  pro  ludis.    .    .    .  148 

Decurions 54 

Discharge  {Soldier's)    ...  233 

Distance  from   Sea  ....  22 

Divorce 52 

Drainage 28 

Drama 42 

Dyers 245 

Earthquakes 9 

Exchange  of  Eumachia.   .    .  127 

Exhedra 63 

Fauces 63 

Fishermen 242 

Flora 259 

Forum,  Greater 98 

»          Boarium 103 

»          Triangular  ....  132 

Freedmen 45 

Fruiterers 258 

Fullonica    .    .    .    .    247,  286,  306 

Fullers 129,  247 

Funeral  Rites 203 

»          Urns 206 

Gambling 43 

Gate  of  the  Sea 82 

»         Stabise 172 

»         Nola 193 

»          Nuceria    ....  179 

»          Herculaneum   .    .  195 

Gems 73 

Glass 250 

Hatters 244 

Home  Life 44 


310 


fNDEX 


Horse-shoes 258 

Houses 

>  height  of 29 

»       of  Adonis 284 

»       the  Anchor 286 

»       Apollo 284 

»       Arianna 299 

»  Balcone  pensile.   .   .  30b 

»        Caccia 299 

»  Canile   {dog-kennel).  303 

>  Capitelli  figurati  .   .  299 
♦  Castor  and  Pollux  .  285 

»        Centauro 285 

»       Centenario 304 

»  Cicero  [or  Frugi)    .210 

>  Cinghiale 789 

»  Cinque  Piani.    .   .    .  287 

»        Citarista 292 

»       Coccodrillo 303 

>  Cornelio  Rufo  ...  291 

»       Diadumeni 291 

»       Diomede 218 

>  Faun 296 

»       Frugi 209 

»        Giocondo 300 

»  Giuseppe  Secondo  .  290 

»        Gran  Dnca 299 

>  Holconius 290 

»       Jucundus 300 

»       Labyrinth 285 

»        Lucrezio ^05 

»       Meleager 284 

»  Mosaic  Columns  .   .  225 

»  Orso  {the  Bear)   .   .  30^ 

»  Orfeo  {Orpheus')  .    .  300 

»        Palestrita 287 

»        Pansa 280 

»  Paquio  Proculo    .   .  305 

»        Parete  nera 298 

»  Poeta  tragico.   ...  279 

»       Quaestor 285 

*  Reg.^Marghcrita .   .  303 

>  Sallust 281 

»        Sandals 292 

>  Scheletro 290 

»       Siricus ^06 

»       Specchio 20" 

»       Surgeon 282 

>  Tanners 293 


Houses  Tragic  Poet    ....  279 

»       Vettii.  , 285 

»       Vomitorium    ....  305 

»        Zappa 290 

Human  Remains 223 

Inscriptions 

Amatory 236 

Dated  .   ,    .   , 231 

Felix 239 

Janatici 240 

Fortunatus 190 

Garasenus 234 

Gladiatorial.    .   .    .    .   238,  239 

Isochrysus 226 

Lignart 32 

Martialis 235 

Oscan 173^  298 

Otiosis 23& 

Patrua 178 

Plostrari 33 

Pomfeitis 226 

^'«/« 237 

Puteolana 236 

Pnteolanis 238 

Turpilin 234 

U^'guentari ,    .  32 

Uncus 338 

Ursos 239 

Victoria 236 

Wine-jars 235 

Itinerary .  279 

Jewelry 72 

Jupiter  Meilichius 154 

Justice 41 

Liberti 4^ 

Literature, 228 

Literary  Curiosities 236 

Life  of  Gentry 48 

Ludus  Gladlatorius 139 

Macellum 124 

Management 78 

Marriage ^o 

Measures 103 

Morality 42 

Mosaic 72,  25c 

Mourning 217 

Mural  Paintings 67 

Museum 87 

^lasic 245 


IXDEX 


311 


Names  of  Houses 81 

>         Streets 11 


Naumachia  .    .    . 

Nucerine  Riot    . 

»  Tombs. 


184 

191 

179 

Ornament 5g 

Ossuary 223 

Osteria 285 

Ostium ^j 

Out>ide  Excavations    .   .     14,    178 

Paintings 70 

Pantheon  , 

Pen   {bronze) 

Plaster  casts    

Pliny's  letters 

Population 

Porta  {see  Gate) 

Portico  of  Vinicius 134 

^o^erty 

Prison 


124 
252 

16 
31 


44 
140 


c  Buildings c8 


Publi 

Slaves I  -  ^ 

Railway 

Re-dis  overy  .    , 

Religion 

Restoration 

Saronite  tombs 

Schoolmasters 

School  of  Verna  ....'. 

Sculptor 

Saddlers 

Sea  Gate g- 

Serta 
Shells 

ff^^2i°g 236 

Slavery 

Statuary 5^ 

Stepping-stones 28 

Stirrups '/  ^^,7 

Street  of  the  tombs   ....  199 

»          the  Amphitheatre  .  175 


176 

77 
20 

39 

58 
224 

47 
130 

257 
357 


216 
259 


Streets   

Suicide 

Surgical  Instruments  .    . 
Survey  of  Svedius   .   .    . 

Tablinum 

Tailois 

Tanners 

Tavern  Signs 

Temple  of  ^sculapius  . 
»  Apollo    .   .   . 

Augustus  .   . 

Fortune  .   .  . 

Hercules  .   . 

Isis 

Jupiter    .   .  . 

Mercury    .    . 


» 

» 

» 


Terra-cotta 

The;itres 

Tibia 

'^'oga 

Tomb  of  Calventius    . 
»  Mamia    .   .    . 

*  Noevoleia  .   . 
»            Res  ti  tutus     . 

*  Terentius   .   . 

Tradesmen 

Triclinium 

»  of  Saturninus 

Triumphal  Arches    .    . 

Trousers 

Ustrinum 

Venatio 

Vespasian 

Vesuvius 

Via  Jovia 

Vice . 

Walls 

Water  Supply.  .... 

Wax  tablets 

Writing  Materials.   .   . 


1 16, 


169, 


31 

43 

67 

201 

62 

243 

293 

33 

153 
108 

124 

117 

^35 
149 

114 

126 

74 
142 

245 

53 
213 

208 

215 

207 

225 

241 

63 

215 
123 

244 

21 1 

186 

38 

27 

175 
42 

196 

34 
250 

249 


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